UCSB   LIBRARY 


SERMONS 


ethailtst 


REPRESENTING 


The  Missouri,  the  St.  Louis  and  the  West  St,  Louis  Conferences 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 


PUBLISHED  IN   THE  INTEREST   OF  CENTRAL  COLLEGE. 


COMPILED      BY 

REV.    G.    W.    HORN. 


"  He  that  knoweth  God,  heareth  us." — I  John  iv.  6. 


ST.     LOUIS: 

SOUTHWESTERN  BOOK  AND  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 

510  AND  512  WASHINGTON  AVEXUE. 

1874. 


PREFATORY. 


The  publication  of  this  book  of  sermons  will  serve  two 
purposes.  The  first  is,  to  give  to  the  reading  public  a 
good  book.  At  no  time  is  the  appearance  of  a  good  book 

% 

impertinent.  The  makers  of  such  books  are  benefactors. 
The  masses  obtain  knowledge  from  books,  and  not, 
strictly  speaking,  by  original  research.  Clubs  and  con- 
versations and  lectures  cannot  be  substituted  for  books  ; 
books,  therefore,  are  a  staple  and  a  necessity. 

A  book  of  sermons  is  no  less  desirable  than  other  lite- 
rature. The  best  style  of  mind  admires  sermons  in  print. 
With  no  factitious  merit  to  catch  the  lovers  of  the  light 
and  merely  novel,  they  sift  the  general  mind,  and  detect 
by  attraction  the  sober  and  worthy.  A  book  of  proper 
sermons  has  in  it  always  matter  worthy  of  any  mind,  even 
the  greatest.  We  claim  that  for  this  volume  from  Mis- 
souri preachers. 

We  claim  a  reading  from  our  people  from  three  con- 
siderations :  The  sermons  are  life  production  of  able 


4  PREFATORY. 

minds;  they  are  plain  and  unambiguous;  and  they  are 
serious,  earnest,  devout  discussions  of  momentous  truths. 
There  is  little  attempt  at  mere  display,  no  flippant  deal- 
ing with  sacred  things,  no  perverted  partisan  presenta- 
tion, but  sincere,  direct,  unctious,  apostolic  preaching. 
But  the  sermons  may  speak  for  themselves. 

One  word  to  the  reader  or  hearer.  Jesus  says,  "  Take 
heed,  therefore,  how  ye  hear."  As  much  depends  upon 
right  hearing  as  upon  right  preaching.  If  preaching  is 
ever  ineffective,  it  is  the  fault  of  the  hearers.  They  hear 
and  do  not.  Many  have  "  itching  ears,"  and  desire  only 
novelty,  or  the  display  of  mental  power,  or  something 
other  than  personal  profit.  They  like  the  preacher  just 
as  he  is  able  to  minister  to  this  carnal  taste,  and  he  is  to 
them  as  Ezekiel  was  to  his  people — "  as  a  very  lovely 
song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant  voice  and  can  play  well 
on  an  instrument ;  for  they  hear  thy  words,  but  they  do 
them  not." 

The  preacher  does  not,  can  not,  should  not,  always 
present  "  some  new  thing."  In  an  important  sense,  "  there 
is  nothing  new  under  the  sun."  The  principles  of  reli- 
gion, the  preacher's  theme,  are  ever  of  old,  immutable 
and  undying.  He  may  and  should  present  variety  of 
phrase  and  illustration^  and  possibly  new  phases  of  truth, 


PREFATORY.  5 

but  no  new  truth.  He  makes  his  message  as  attractive 
as  he  can,  and  leads  his  hearers  by  ways  they  have  not 
known,  out  into  the  green  pastures  and  beside  the  still 
waters ;  but  it  is  theirs  to  be  led,  and  to  pluck  the  rich 
fruits  and  drink  of  the  waters  that  flow  softly.  They  are 
by  him  to  learn  duty,  discover  grace,  "  suffer  the  word  of 
exhortation,"  and  be  admonished,  reproved,  rebuked  as 
they  may  need.  Ezekiel's  hearers  were  charmed  with 
his  oratory  and  method;  they  drank  in  his  eloquence, 
were  pleased  with  his  gorgeous  Hebrew  poetry  and  Chal- 
daic  imagery,  but  they  were  not  edified.  Their  sin  was 
that  they  would  not  DO,  and  they  did  not  because  their 
hearing  was  defective.  "  Take  heed,  therefore,  how  ye 
hear." 

The  second  purpose  in  the  issuance  of  this  volume  is, 
to  procure  a  fund  for  Central  College  Library.  The 
mentioning  of  this-  object  is  enough.  Every  intelligent 
Methodist,  with  a  right  heart  beating  in  him,  is  ready  to 
aid  such  a  cause.  On  this  ground  again  we  challenge 
the  loyalty  of  every  member  of  our  Church  in  Missouri 
for  patronage  to  this  enterprise.  Will  not  each  worthy 
member  contribute  the  small  sum  that  buys  this  book  to 
so  good  a  cause  ? 

In  reference   to  the   men  who   furnish  the   sermons 


6  PREFATORY, 

herein,  a  word  is  sufficient.  They  are  among  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Church  in  Missouri — not,  indeed,  the  only 
leading  minds,  for  there  are  as  many  more  of  the  same 
character,  but  they  are  peers  of  the  best  in  this  State  or 
any  other.  They  are  men  of  God,  and  mean  the  wel- 
fare of  those  for  whom  this  volume  is  prepared. 

The  compiler  confesses  indebtedness  to  the  brethren 
who  have  kindly  aided  to  make  the  undertaking  a  suc- 
cess. He  is  under  grateful  obligation,  not  only  to  those 
whose  names  are  in  this  book,  but  to  others  also  whose 
generosity  will  not  be  forgotten. 

G.  W.  HORN. 
MACON,  Mo.,  JAN.  20,  1874. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

I.  DWELLING   IN  LOVE— By  Rev.  W.    M.   RUSH, 

D.  D.,  Agent  for  Central  College 9 

-    II.  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES— By  Rev.  C.  P.  JONES, 

D.  D.,  of  West  St.  Louis  Conference 25 

III.  PREACHING  CHRIST— By  Rev.  J.  II.  PRITCHETT, 

of  the  Missouri  Conference 47 

IV.  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST,  THEN  AND  NOW; 
BEFORE  PILATE  AND  YOU— By  Rev.  W. 
M.  PROTTSMAN,  of  the  West  St.  Louis  Conference.  65 

V.  THE   GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.— By  Rev.  H. 

A.  BOURLAND,  of  the  Missouri  Conference 82 

VI.  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL  DEATH  AND 
LIFE.— By  Rev.  F.  X.  FORSTER,  Prof,  in  Central 
College 101 

VII.  AMAZING  LOVE.— By  Rev.  W.  C.  GODBEY,  of  the 

West  St.  Louis  Conference 116 

VIII.  THE   LAW  OF   SACRIFICES.— By   Rev.   M.   B. 

CHAPMAN,  of  the  Missouri  Conference 134 

IX.  MORE    LABORERS   IN   THE   HARVEST.— By 

Rev.  J.  P.  NOLAN,  of  the  Missouri  Conference 146 

X.  DOING  THE   SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST.— By  Rev. 

C.  C.  WOODS,  of  West  St.  Louis  Conference 166 

XL  THE    FOLLY   OF    SKEPTICISM.— By    Rev.     J. 

E.  GODBEY,  of  the  St.  Louis  Conference 178 


8  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

XII.  HEAVEN:  ITS  INHABITANTS,  THEIR  CHAR 
ACTER  AND   EMPLOYMENT.— By    Rev.    S. 
W.    COPE,  of  the  Missouri  Conference 190 

XIII.  BAPTISM   OF  JESUS   CHRIST.— By  Rev.  J.   A. 

MURPHY,  of  West  St.  Louis  Conference 205 

•XIV.  TO  THE  YOUNG.— By  Rev.  C.  I.  VANDEVENTER, 

of  the  Missouri   Conference 221 

«        XV.  THE   HIDDEN   LIFE.— By  Rev.  B.  H.  SPENCER, 

of  the  Missouri  Conference 230 

XVI.  SERMON.— Preached  before  the  St.  Louis  Annual 
Conference,  assembled  at  Lexington,  Missouri,  Sep- 
tember 19,  1866 241 

XVII.  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND  DISAPPOINT- 
ED WIVES.— By  Rev.  J.  W.  Cunningham,  of 
the  Missouri  Conference 265 

XVIII.  THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILI- 
TY.—By  Rev.  C.  D.  N.  CAMPBELL,  D.  D.,  of  the 
St.  Louis  Conference 283 

XIX.  THE  RESURRECTION.— Delivered  on  Easter  Sun- 
day, April  5th,  1874,  in  the  Second  Methodist 
Church,  South  St.  Louis,  by  Rev.  D.  R.  M 'ANALLY, 
of  the  St.  Louis  Conference 299 

XX.  PIETY    PROGRESSIVE 316 


SERMONS. 


i. 

DWELLING    IN    LOYE. 

'  BY  REV.  W.  M.  RUSH,  D.  D., 
Agent   for    Central     College. 


"  God  is  love ;  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God,  and 
God  in  him."  —  i  JOHN  iv.  16. 

What  a  sublime  utterance !  The  nature  of  God  and 
all  spiritual  relations  are  here  expressed  in  love.  The 
self-existence,  immutability  and  eternity  of  God  are  the 
self-existence,  immutability  and  eternity  of  love.  His 
unity  and  omnipresence  are  a  universal,  immense  and 
all -pervading  love.  The  sovereignty  of  God  is  love 
enthroned  with  supreme  authority.  Creation  was  a  sub- 
lime expression  of  love.  God  willed  that  other  beings 
capable  of  knowing  and  loving  him,  and  of  being  happy 
with  himself  forever,  should  exist ;  and  angels,  arch- 
angels, seraphim  and  cherubim,  in  shining  ranks  stood 
before  him,  and  in  adoring  love  worshiped  at  his  feet.  He 
garnished  the  skies  with  worlds  and  systems  of  worlds, 
the  abodes,  perhaps,  of  intelligent  beings,  members  of  his 
great  family.  O,  what  an  infinite  satisfaction  •  must  the 


10  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

great  Father  have  realized  in  the  midst  of  the  children 
of  his  love — they  dwelling  in  him,  and  he  in  them,  each 
moving  in  its  proper  sphere,  and  all  held  together  in 
sweetest,  purest,  holiest  sympathy,  by  an  infinite  love ! 

Love  is  the  law  of  the  moral  universe,  and  is  of  equal 
authority  upon  angels  and  upon  men.  Our  Saviour 
Christ  says :  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind. 
This  is  the  first  and  the  great  commandment.  And  the 
second  is  like  unto  it:  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law 
and  the  prophets."  Paul  says,  "  Therefore  love  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law."  Whatever  may  be  the  outward 
form  of  the  commandment,  the  principle  is  love.  Is  it 
said,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me  ?  "  It  is 
because  we  are  to  love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our  heart. 
Is  it  said,  "  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord 
thy  God  in  vain  ?  "  It  is  for  the  same  reason.  Is  it 
said,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill  ?  "  It  is  because  we  are  to 
love  our  neighbor  as  ourself.  And  for  the  same  reason  it 
is  said  thou  shalt  not  steal,  etc.  The  first  table  of  the 
Decalogue  requires  supreme  love  to  God,  and  the  second 
requires  love  to  our  neighbor. 

Love  is  religion.  How  many  there  are,  even  among 
church  members,  in  the  daily  habit  of  using  the  term 
religion  without  ever  considering  or  apprehending  its 
exact  or  proper  meaning.  It  comes  from  the  Latin  religio, 
and  signifies  to  rebind,  to  bind  again.  The  essence  of  sin 
is  enmity.  It  is  directly  opposed  to  the  law  of  love,  and 
hence  Paul  says,  "  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law." 


DWELLING  IN  LOVE.  II 

It  is  the  nature  of  sin  to  disintegrate — it  has  separated 
man  from  his  Maker.  By  trangression  man  is  a  wanderer 
from  God.  "  All  we,  like  sheep,  have  gone  astray;  we  have 
forsaken  the  fountain  of  living  waters — strangers  from 
the  covenants  of  promise,  having  no  hope  and  without 
God  in  the  world."  Such  is  the  sad  picture  that  is  pre- 
sented us  of  man  by  the  unerring  truth  of  God,  in  his 
fallen,  corrupt  aiid  sinful  condition.  But  sin  not  only 
separates  man  from  his  Maker,  it  separates  man  from  his 
fellow.  The  tendency  of  sin  is  to  make  Ishmaelites  of 
every  one  of  us — setting  every  man's  hand  against  his 
fellow.  It  has  filled  the  earth  with  wrong  and  oppres- 
sion, with  violence  and  bloodshed.  Religion  is  that 
divine  process  by  which  man  is  recovered  from  his 
alienation  and  brought  back  to  God ;  it  is  a  rebinding  of 
his  spirit  to  his  spiritual  and  unseen  Creator.  The  whole 
system  of  recovery,  from  its  inception  to  its  consummation, 
is  a  system  of  love.  Love  is  the  rebinding;  it  is  that 
ligature  which  holds  man  in  allegiance  to  the  divine 
throne,  and  in  harmony  with  the  divine  government. 
But  religion  not  only  unites  us  to  God,  it  unites  us  to 
one  another.  Human  hearts  once  severed,  the  links  of 
affection  all  shattered  and  gone,  are,  by  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ,  bound  together  in  a  bundle  of  love — the 
Apostle  says,  "  knitted  together  in  love."  If  the  knitting 
is  anatomical,  the  cement  is  love;  if  it  is  as  the  process 
of  forming  a  garment  of  many  stitches,  then  the  cord 
which  binds  them  all  together  is  love.  This  is  spiritual 
religion,  which  has  to  do  directly  and  primarily  with 
man's  spiritual  nature,  and  which,  like  its  divine  Author, 


12  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

is  unchangeable — "  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for- 
ever." Spiritual  religion  develops,  as  its  fruit,  practical 
religion.  This  practical  religion  is  mentioned  by  James 
when  he  says  :  "  Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God 
and  the  Father  is  this,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows 
in  their  afflictions,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the 
world."  This  practical  religion  'is  the  good  fruit  of  a 
good  tree ;  it  is  the  outward  manifestation  of  an  inward 
grace;  it  is  the  outgrowth  of  love  to  God,  and  love  to 
one  another. 

Love  is  the  essence  of  spiritual  life.     Spiritual  life  is  the 
highest  form  of  life.     It  is  of  the  nature  of  God  himself. 
There  may  be  spiritual  existence  without  spiritual  life. 
The  spirit  of  the  beast  that  descendeth  downward  has 
not  spiritual  life.     The  angels  that  "left  their  first  estate, 
that  sinned  against    God,"  and  "  were  thrust   down  to 
hell,"  are  spiritual  beings,  but  they  have  not  spiritual  life. 
Spiritual  life  is  a  moral  condition,  and  exists  only  in  vital 
connection  with  God.     This  vital  connection  is  ruptured 
by  sin.     "  The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die,"  not  merely 
because  justice  demands  it,  but  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
case  such  is  the  necessary  result.     A  very  high  degree  of 
mental  action  may  remain,  as  in  the  case  of  fallen  angels 
and  wicked  men,  but  vital  connection  with  God,  in  which 
alone  this  highest  form  of  life  exists,  is  broken  up.     The 
soul  that  is  dead  by  reason  of  sin  must  be  restored  to 
that  moral  condition  in  which  its  vital  connection  with 
God  is  re-established.     That  moral  condition  is  a  condi- 
tion of  love.     Moses  said    to   the  children   of  Israel: 
"And  the  Lord  thy  God  will  circumcise  thy  heart,  and 


DWELLING  IN  1,0  VE.  13 

the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live." 
The  gracious  work  that  is  here  spoken  of  is  called  a 
circumcision  because  of  .the  striking  significance  of  that 
ordinance,  which  was  the  token  of  the  covenant  and  the 
representative  ordinance  of  the  Church  under  that  dispen- 
sation. The  same  gracious  work  is  under  the  present 
dispensation  called  baptism,  because  of  the  striking 
significance  of  baptism,  which  is  the  token  of  the  cove- 
nant and  representative  ordinance  of  the  Church  under 
the  present  dispensation.  Still,  however,  under  the 
present  dispensation  it  is  sometimes  called  a  circumcision 
of  the  heart.  Paul  says,  For  he  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is 
one  outwardly ;  neither  is  that  circumcision  which  is 
outward  in  the  flesh :  but  he  is  a  Jew  which  is  one 
inwardly ;  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart  in  the 
spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter ;  whose  praise  is  not  of  men, 
but  of  God."  It  will  be  observed  that  both  Moses  and 
Paul  speak  of  the  heart  as  the  subject  of  this  gracious 
work — this  spiritual  circumcision ;  and  Moses  tells  us 
that  the  heart  is  circumcised  to  love  that  it  may  have  life. 
Man's  spiritual  being  is  restored  to  that  moral  condition 
in  which  its  vital  connections  are  re-established.  Paul 
tells  us  that  "  to  be  carnally-minded  is  death,"  and  assigns 
as  a  sufficient  reason,  "  because  the  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  God,  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of 
God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  The  law  of  God  is  love ; 
the  carnal  mind  is  enmity.  Enmity  does  not,  cannot 
love,  and,  therefore,  it  is  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  that  the  carnal  mind  should  be  subject  to  the  law 


14  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

of  God.  Those  who  are  carnal  are  said  to  be  "  children 
of  wrath,"  "  sold  under  sin,"  "  dead  in  trespasses." 
This  gracious  work,  which  by  Moses  and  Paul  is  called 
a  circumcision,  is  by  David  called  a  creation.  He  says: 
"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a  right 
spirit  within  me."  Our  Lord  said  to  Nicodemus  :  "  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God."  To  be  born  again  is  to  be  created  anew.  Paul 
says:  "Created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works;"  "  and 
that  ye  put  on  the  new  man,  which,  after  God,  is  created 
in  righteousness  and  true  holiness."  Ezekiel  says  : 
"  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  clean ;  from  all  your  filthiness  and  from  all  your  idols 
will  I  cleanse  you.  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you, 
and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you ;  and  I  will  take 
away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give 
you  a  heart  of  flesh."  • 

I  have  quoted  thus  largely  from  both  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testaments,  to  show  that  in  both,  this  great  and 
gracious  work  is  set  forth  in  identical  and  corresponding 
terms;  in  both,  man's  spiritual  being  is  the  subject  of 
it;  in  both,  the  work  is  thorough  and  complete,  being  a 
transformation  and  renewal  of  our  nature,  restoring  us  not 
only  to  the  favor,  but  to  the  image  of  God ;  not  only 
rebinding  us  in  allegiance  to  the  divine  throne,  but 
re-establishing  our  vital  connections  with  the  great  foun- 
tain of  spiritual  life.  It  is  not  only  a  rebinding,  but  is  a 
living  connection.  Life  from  the  very  heart  of  God 
pulsates  in  the  renewed  soul.  How  striking  and  fitting 
the  similitude  employed  by  our  Saviour — I  am  the  vine, 


DWELLING  IN  LOVE.  15 

ye  are  the  branches."  It  is  the  richness  and  fatness  of 
the  vine  flowing  into  the  branch  that  gives  to  the  branch 
life  and  fruitfulness ;  and  even  s6,  it  is  the  love  of  God 
shed  abroad  in  our  hearts,  permeating  our  whole  spiritual 
being,  that  gives  us  life  and  fruitfulness. 

In  our  physical  economy  the  blood  is  called  by  the 
word  of  God,  " the  life"  The  heart  is  said  to  be  the 
seat  of  life,  because  from  it  issues  the  blood,  the  tide  of 
life.  This  blood  flows  through  the  arterial  system  to 
every  part  of  the  body,  and  through  the  venous  system 
it  is  returned  to  the  heart  again.  This  circulation  is 
essential  to  the  life,  not  only  of  the  whole,  but  of  each 
individual  member;  for  if  any  member  of  the  body 
should  become  so  diseased  or  otherwise  injured  as  neither 
to  receive  nor  circulate  the  blood,  and  that  disease  or 
injury  should  become  permanent,  that  member  would 
pass  into  a  state  of  mortification  or  death,  and  would 
have  to  be  amputated  to  preserve  the  life  of  the  body;  so 
love  is  the  life  of  our  moral  or  spiritual  constitution. 
God  is  the  great  fountain  of  spiritual  life  to  the  universe, 
and  his  love  flows  to  every  heart  in  vital  connection  with 
himself,  and  every  heart  in  vital  connection  with  him 
loves  him  in  return.  "  We  love  him  because  he 
first  loved  us."  The  circulation  of  this  life-principle  is 
essential  to  the  spiritual  life,  not  only  of  the  moral  uni- 
verse, but  of  each  personal  spiritual  being.  If  any  one 
should  become  so  morally  diseased  or  injured  in  his 
moral  constitution  that  he  neither  received,  circulated 
nor  reciprocated  the  love  of  God,  he  would  pass  into  a 
state  of  spiritual  death,  and  that  condition  being,  or 


1 6  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

becoming  permanent,  he  must  be  cut  off  from  the  great 
body  of  the  family  of  God.  It  is  thus  that  spiritual 
death  is  a  necessary  result  of  sin.  "  The  soul  that  sin- 
neth  it  shall  die,"  is  a  truth  that  expresses  not  only  a  decree 
of  God,  but  a  moral  necessity.  Sin  necessarily  obstructs 
the  life-principle,  and  the  incorrigibly  wicked — they  who 
persistently  reject  the  only  method  or  plan  by  which 
their  vital  connection  with  the  great  fountain  of  spiritual 
life  could  be  re-established — must  be  cut  off.  The  sepa- 
ration of  such  an  one  from  God's  family  is  as  much  an 
act  of  goodness  and  of  mercy  as  it  is  an  act  of  justice. 
It  is  no  act  of  cruelty  to  amputate  a  dead  member,  a 
hand,  or  a  foot,  from  a  living  body.  The  amputation 
must  take  place  or  the  body  will  die.  If  the  dead  mem- 
ber cannot  be  restored  to  life,  if  the  circulation  be  perma- 
nently cut  off,  it  will  do  it  no  good  to  remain  connected 
with  the  body ;  but  such  connection  will  work  the 
destruction  of  the  body.  Neither  is  it  an  act  of  cruelty 
to  turn  a  dead  spirit,  a  spirit  that  has  broken  up  its  vital 
connection  with  the  fountain  of  life,  out  of  heaven.  It 
could  do  the  impure  and  carnal  spirit  no  good  to  remain 
in  heaven,  the  home  of  purity  and  love,  but  its  remaining 
there  would  break  up  and  destroy  heaven  itself.  This 
must  not  be.  The  mercy  of  God,  the  goodness  of  God, 
the  infinite  love  of  the  Father  for  his  children,  will  not 
permit  it.  The  family  homestead  must  be  preserved. 

When  the  soul  is  renewed  and  brought  into  vital 
connection  with  God,  it  receives  in  kind  that  life  with 
which  the  saints  are  crowned  in  heaven.  "  He  that 
believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life."  It  is  the 


DWELLING  IN  LOVE.  17 

same  love  that  shall  be  his  forever,  if  he  continue  stead- 
fast unto  the  end.  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I 
will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 

"  Beyond  this  vale  of  tears 

There  is  a  life  above. 

\ 

Unmeasured  by  the  flight  of  years — 

And  all  that  life  is  love. 
There  is  a  death  whose  pang 

Outlasts  the  fleeting  breath  ; 
O  !  what  eternal  horrors  hang 

Around  the  second  death." 

Whatever  may  be  the  employments  of  heaven,  whether 
in  obedience  to  the  divine  will,  on  pinions  of  celestial 
light,  the  redeemed  and  glorified  spirit  shall  speed  from 
star  to  star  on  missions  of  love  and  mercy,  until  reaching 
the  utmost  limits  of  creation,  it  shall  be  able  to  look  into 
nothing's  strange  abode ;  or  whether  nearest  the  throne, 
gazing  upon  the  unclouded  glory  of  God,  it  shall  join  in 
anthems  of  everlasting  praise ;  or  whether  in  Eden  bow- 
ers, amid  jasper  walls  and  golden  streets  and  gates  of 
pearl ;  or  by  the  banks  of  the  river  of  life,  in  sweetest,, 
holiest  communion  with  kindred  spirits,  the  vitalizing 
principle  of  every  employment  is  love.  The  very  atmos- 
phere of  heaven  is  redolent  with  love. 

"  This  is  the  grace  that  must  live  and  sing 

When  faith  and  hope  shall  cease ; 
Must  sound  from  every  joyful  string 
Through  the  sweet  groves  of  bliss." 

Love  is  the  substance  of  human  joy.  There  is  not  a 
joy  that  swells  the  human  heart  but  that  is  the  offspring 
of  love.  Even  forbidden  presence  is  the  result  ot  a 


1 8  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

forbidden  affection.  For  a  confirmation  of  this  let  us 
appeal  to  the  natural  affections.  Do  we  not  find  that  in 
all  the  relations- of  natural  affection,  the  thought  of  the 
object  of  our  love  fills  the  heart  with  pleasure  ?  Ask 
that  mother  who  is  so  tenderly  caressing  her  infant 
babe,  "  Mother,  do  you  love  your  babe  ?  "  Without  a 
moment's  hesitation  the  answer  will  be :  "  O,  yes  !  no 
language  can  tell  how  much  I  love  my  child."  "  But, 
mother,  how  do  you  know  that  you  love  your  child  ?  " 
She  answers :  "  I  have  an  inward  consciousness  of  the 
love  that  I  have  for  my  child."  But  what  is  that  con- 
sciousness of  love  of  which  the  mother  speaks  ?  Is  it 
not  that  unspeakable  pleasure  that  swells  within  her  heart 
and  sweeps  every  cord  of  her  maternal  nature  as  she 
thinks  of  the  child  she  loves  so  much  ?  A  father  may 
think  of  his  prodigal  son  with  mingled  feelings  of  pleas- 
ure and  of  pain.  He  loves  his  son,  but  he  hates  his 
vices,  he  hates  his  prodigality.  The  love  gives  pleas- 
ure, but  the  hatred  gives  pain.  The  heart  that  is  full 
of  love,  with  no  enmity,  is  full  of  joy.  We  remem- 
ber, through  the  lapse  of  long  and  numerous  years,  the 
hour  of  our  conversion,  when  first  from  above  we  re- 
ceived the  pledge  of  love — when  first  the  full  tide  of 
spiritual  life  was  poured  into  our  souls — when  first  we 
realized  that  we  did  love  God,  because  he  first  loved  us ; 
then  were  we  happy — happy  as  we  had  never  been 
before.  O  !  who  can  ever  forget  the  gladness  of  that 
happy  hour !  David  celebrated  it  in  sacred  song.  When 
God  had  removed  his  transgressions  from  him,  as  far  as 
the  East  is  from  the  West,  he  shouted  :  "  Bless  the  Lord, 


DWELLING  IN  LOVE.  19 

O  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me  bless  his  holy 
name."  Again  he  says :  "  I  love  the  Lord  because  he 
hath  heard  my  voice  and  my  supplications ;  because  he 
hath  inclined  his  ear  unto  me,  therefore  will  I  call  upon 
him  as  long  as  I  live."  And  yet  again,  out  of  a  heart 
full  of  love,  he  says :  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but 
thee  ?  And  there  is  none  upon  the  earth  that  I  desire 
beside  thee."  In  his  rich  experience  of  the  goodness 
and  favor  of  God  his  soul  was  transported  with  love  and 
joy.  We  can  but  admire  the  loving  kindness  of  our 
heavenly  Father  in  so  wonderfully  adjusting  our  personal 
happiness  to  our  duty  to  himself  and  to  one  another.  If 
we  would  be  happy,  as  God  intended  we  should  be,  we 
must  love  him,  and  we  must  love  one  another;  and  we 
cannot  love  him  and  one  another  without  being  happy. 
God  hath  joined  these  two  together,  and  it  is  impossible 
that  they  should  be  put  asunder. 

Love  is  the  witness  of  the  Spirit.  John  says  :  "  He 
that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in 
himself."  This  is  plain  language,  not  easily  misunder- 
stood. Paul  says :  "  And  because  ye  are  sons  God  hath 
sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your  hearts  crying, 
Abba  Father."  The  Spirit  is  given  to  testify  to  this  new 
relation.  He  is,  in  fact,  the  only  competent  witness  in 
the  universe  to  testify  in  the  case ;  "for  what  man 
knoweth  the  things  of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of  man  that 
is  in  him  ?  Even  so  the  things  of  God  knoweth  no  man, 
but  the  Spirit  of  God."  If  our  sins  are  pardoned,  the 
act  of  pardon  has  passed  in  the  divine  mind  ;  and  if  we 
are  regenerated  and  adopted  into  his  family,  the  work  is 


20  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

his ;  and  because  we  are  sons,  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  is  sent 
into  our  hearts  to  communicate  to  us  the  gracious  intel- 
ligence of  the  new  relation,  our  sonship,  our  adoption 
into  the  family  of  God.     "  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  wit- 
ness with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God." 
Again   he  says :  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  he  is  none  of  his."     This  is  not  to  be  glossed 
over,  as  if  the  apostle  had  said :  if  any  man  have  not 
the  mind  and  temper  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  his,  thus 
denying  or  ignoring  the  "  Spirit  of  Christ,"  "  the  Spirit 
of  his  Son,"  "  the  Spirit  of  adoption,"  "  whereby  we  cry 
Abba  Father."     This  witnessing  Spirit  must  be  possessed 
by   those   who   belong   to    Christ.     "Therefore,    being 
justified  by  faith  we  have  peace  with   God  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  also  we  have  access  by  faith 
into  this  grace  wherein  we  stand  and  rejoice  in  hope  of 
the  glory  of  God.     And  not  only  so,  but  we  glory  in 
tribulations  also,  knowing  that  tribulation  worketh  pa- 
tience, and  patience  experience,  and  experience  hope : 
and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed,  because  the  love  of  God 
is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which 
is  given  unto  us."     I  know  of  no  other  agency  by  which 
the  love  of  God  can  get  into  the  human  heart  but  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.     The  Bible  tells  of  no  other,  but  it  tells  of 
this.     The  logic  of  the   apostle  is  irresistible.      If  any 
man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his,  be- 
cause if  he  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ  he  has  not  the  love 
of  God  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and 
if  he  have  not  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his  heart, 
then   is  he  carnal,  sold  under   sin;  but  to  be   carnally 


DWELLING  IN  LOVE.  21 

minded  is  death,  and  they  that  are  carnal  are  dead  in 
trespasses  and  in  sins.  When  the  soul  is  adopted  into 
the  family  of  God  its  vital  connections  are  re-established, 
and  the  tide  of  spiritual  life,  the  love  of  God,  is  shed 
abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of 
adoption.  Hence  it  is  that  he  that  believeth  on  the  Son 
of  God — all  they  who  are  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus — "  have  the  witness  in  themselves." 

In  spiritual  life,  as  in  physical  life,  there  is  the  con- 
sciousness of  life  as  well  as  the  action  of  life.  Others 
may  know  that  we  live  by  the  action  of  life — ';by  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them ;  "  but  we  know  that  we  live 
by  the  consciousness  of  life ;  we  know  that  we  have 
passed  from  death  unto  life, 'because  we  love  the  breth- 
ren, we  love  God.  Love  is  a  matter  of  personal  con- 
sciousness. 

"  Exults  our  rising  soul, 

Disburdened  of  her  load, 
And  swells  unutterably  full 

Of  glory  and  of  God. 

"  His  love  surpassing  far 

The  love  of  all  beneath, 
We  find  within  our  hearts,  and  dare 
The  pointless  darts  of  death. 

"  Stronger  than  death  or  hell 

The  sacred  power  we  prove  ; 
And  conquerors  of  the  world,  we  dwell 
In  heaven  who  dwell  in  love." 

My  beloved,  we  cannot  afford  to  dispense  with  the 
consciousness  of  spiritual  life,  as  the  action  of  physical 
life  would  not  long  continue  without  the  consciousness 


22  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

of  physical  life ;  neither  will  the  action  of  spiritual  life 
long  continue  without  the  consciousness  of  spiritual  life, 
and  while  it  did  remain  it  would  "  become  as  sounding 
brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal."  O  let  us  seek,  my  brethren, 
for  a  deeper,  richer  experience  in  the  things  of  God. 
Let  the  daily  cry  of  our  heart  be — 

"  Nearer  to  thee,  my  God,  nearer  to  thee." 
But,  beloved,  let  us  not  for  a  moment  suppose  that 
this  consciousness  of  spiritual  life  is  all  that  is  needful. 
Its  very  existence  depends  upon  the  action  of  spiritual 
life.  "  As  faith  without  works,"  in  the  Christian,  "  is 
dead,"  even  so,  love  will  not  long  continue  unless  it 
produce  the  fruit  of  holy  living.  Jesus  said  to  his  sor- 
rowing disciples  :  "  It  ye  love  me  keep  my  command- 
ments. He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and  keepeth 
them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me :  and  he  that  loveth  me 
shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will 
manifest  myself  to  him.  If  a  man  love  me  he  will  keep 
my  words :  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will 
come  unto  him  and  make  our  abode  with  him.  Herein 
is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much  fruit ;  so  shall 
ye  be  my  disciples.  If  ye  keep  my  commandments  ye 
shall  abide  in  my  love,  even  as  I  have  kept  my  Father's 
commandments  and  abide  in  his  love.  If  a  man  abide 
not  in  me,  he  is  cast  forth  as  a  branch,  and  is  withered ; 
and  men  gather  them  and  cast  them  into  the  fire  and 
they  are  burned."  Unless  we  observe  to  do  all  things 
whatsoever  God  has  commanded  us  we  cannot  abide  in 
him ;  our  vital  connections  will  be  broken  up,  and  we 
will  be  cast  forth  as  a  dead  branch  fit  only  to  be  burned. 


DWELLING  IN  LOVE.  23 

The  commandments  of  God,  however,  are  not  grievous 
unto  us,  for  the  obedience  which  he  requires  is  a  loving 
obedience.  It  may  be  indeed  that  the  pathway  of  duty 
may  sometimes  lie  amid  trials,  but  the  trial  of  our  faith 
is  more  precious  than  gold  that  perisheth.  Perhaps 
Daniel  was  never  happier  than  in  the  lions'  den ;  nor  the 
Hebrew  children,  than  in  the  fiery  furnace.  No  other 
act  of  obedient  faith,  in  the  entire  history  of  Abraham, 
presents  him  so  grandly  as  that  in  which  he  is  offering 
his  son  Isaac  upon  the  altar.  If  we  can  only  hear  the 
voice  of  the  Master,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you,"  it  is  enough. 

How  intimate  the  communion  and  fellowship  of  God 
with  his  children !  They  dwell  in  him,  and  he  dwells  in 
them.  They  repose  in  the  bosom  of  their  Father. 
They  have  a  blessed  consciousness  of  the  warm  pul- 
sations of  his  love  in  their  hearts,  permeating  their 
whole  spiritual  being.  They  feel  that  the  everlasting 
arms  of  the  Infinite  One  are  beneath  and  about  them 
for  their  protection.  Dwelling  in  God  they  dwell  safely. 
No  weapon  that  is  formed  against  them  shall  prosper. 
While  they  dwell  in  God,  their  adversary  the  devil,  as  a 
roaring  lion,  may  ragfe  in  vain ;  they  laugh  to  scorn  his 
cruel  power.  He  is  their  stronghold  in  the  day  of 
trouble,  their  refuge,  their  hiding  place,  their  covert 
from  the  storm.  He  is  the  strength  of  their  heart  and 
their  portion  forever.  All  the  treasuries  of  his  providence^, 
and  of  his  grace,  are  laid  under  contribution  to  supply 
their  wants ;  no  good  thing  will  he  withhold  from  them 
that  walk  uprightly.  His  wisdom  and  his  omnipotence 
are  pledged  in  their  behalf;  all  things  work  together  for 


24  DWELLING  IN  LOVE. 

good  to  them  that  love  God.  He  is  their  Father,  and 
they  are  his  children — heirs  of  his  glory  and  joint  heirs 
with  Christ  their  elder  brother. 

God  dwells  in  them.  How  precious,  and  yet  how 
mysterious  and  incomprehensible  is  this  truth !  The 
Infinite  One,  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  con- 
tain, who  filleth  immensity  with  his  presence,  dwells  in 
each-  believer's  soul.  Dwelling  in  them  he  is  their 
peace,  the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understanding 
dwells  richly  in  their  hearts.  He  is  their  joy,  and  the 
crown  ot  their  rejoicing.  He  is  their  hope,  which,  like 
an  anchor,  sure  and  steadfast,  enters  within  the  vale 
and  lays  hold  on  Eternal  Life.  He  is  their  light,  to 
cheer  them  amid  tempest  and  storm.  He  is  their  life 
and  their  salvation,  their  exceeding  great  reward. 

"  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God."  Dwelling  in 
•God,  and  he  in  us,  we  dwell  in  love,  and  realize  that 
God  is  love.  "  And  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall 
be,  but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear  we  shall  be 
like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  There  are 
glories  in  heaven  yet  unrevealed  to  us,  splendors  about 
the  divine  l^irone  yet  undiscovered:  There  are  things  to 
be  seen  and  heard  in  heaven  that  cannot  be  symbolized  in 
human  speech.  The  language  of  earth  is  too  poor  to 
give  expression  to  the  things  that  Paul  saw  and  heard  in 
the  third  heaven. 

Of. one  thing,  my  brethren,  we  maybe  well  assured: 
when  we  shall  awake  in  His  likeness,  amid  the  splen- 
dors of  the  heavenly  world,  we  shall  be  SATISFIED. 


II. 
THE   CHOICE    OF  MOSES. 

BY  REV.  C.  P.  JONES,  D.  D., 
Of  West  St.    Louis    Conference. 


"  By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was  come  to  years,  refused  to  be 
called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ;  choosing  rather  to  suffer 
affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  sin 
for  a  season  ;  esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than 
the  treasures  in  Egypt ;  for  he  had  respect  unto  the  recompense  ol 
the  reward." — HEB.  xi.  24-5-6. 

By  one  touch  of  the  heavenly  limner  the  few  words  of 
the  text  bring  in  review  before  us  the  life  of  one  who 
lived  nearly  thirty-five  hundred  years  ago — a  life  replete 
with  most  extraordinary  vicissitudes,  and  full  of  lessons 
of  profoundest  religious  import.  Now  the  helpless  babe 
of  a  poor  bondman,  ruthlessly,  hopelessly,  condemned  to 
die  by  an  absolute,  heartless  tyrant ;  now  the  adopted 
son  of  that  tyrant's  daughter,  and  a  cherished  member 
of  the  royal  family ;  now  in  the  full  vigor  of  young 
manhood,  amid  the  splendors  of  a  court,  surrounded  by 
wealth,  earthly  greatness,  pleasures ;  now  a  voluntary 
exile,  a  penniless,  houseless,  homeless  wanderer;  now 
alone  in  the  wilderness  watching  his  flock,  or  standing 
awe-struck  in  the  presence  of  the  august  Majesty  of 
heaven  and  earth,  who,  from  the  burning  bush,  com- 
3 


26  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

missions  him  to  humble  the  might  of  heathen  pride,  and 
lead  his  chosen  people  to  their  promised  inheritance ; 
now  at  the  court  of  Pharaoh  demanding  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  Israel — calling  up  the  dread  messenger  of  death 
to  smite  the  first-born  of  him  whose  sanguinary  decrees 
had  carried  death  and  mourning  into  every  dwelling  of 
the  poor  Israelite,  and  to  smite  also  the  first-born  of 
those  who  gloried  in  and  executed  those  sanguinary 
decrees,  till  a  nation  grows  pale  with  fear,  and  the  might- 
iest monarch  of  the  world  trembles  on  his  throne.  Now 
leading  redeemed  Israel  in  triumph  across  the  Red  Sea, 
whose  waters,  as  if  instinct  with  life,  retire  at  his  ap- 
•proach ;  now  traversing  arid  wastes,  and  smiting  limpid 
waters  from  the  flinty  rock ;  now  on  the  mount  face  to 
face  with  the  ineffably  glorious  One,  receiving  the  law ; 
now  at  the  end  of  his  pilgrimage  on  Pisgah's  top  explor- 
ing each  landmark  on  Canaan's  bright  shore  ;  and  now 
beyond  "  the  last  river,"  crowned  and  sceptred  with 
adoring  millions,  receiving  the  approbation  of  Him 
whose  smile  is  heaven  ! 

The  life  of  Moses  abounds  also  in  lessons  of  deepest 
religious  import.  His  faith,  his  choice,  his  unwavering 
purpose  to  serve  and  glorify  God,  his  moral  heroism,  his 
humility,  his  God-like  patience,  teach  us  that  man  in 
this  corrupt  world,  in  the  highest  positions,  surrounded 
by  wealth  and  glory,  may  deny  himself  all  worldly  lusts, 
and  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly;  may  become 
the  architect  of  a  character  that  shall  shine  as  a  beacon 
light  amid  the  moral  gloom  of  earth,  and  achieve  a  vic- 
tory the  glory  of  which,  when  compared  with  the  tri- 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  27 

umphs  of  earthly  heroes,  is  as  the  glorious  orb  of  day  to 
a  dimly  twinkling  star !  That  these  lessons  may  more 
deeply  impress  you  and  lead  you  to  a  faith  and  choice, 
if  you  yet  halt  between  two  opinions,  and  to  an  obedi- 
ence and  holiness  like  unto  the  faith  and  choice,  the 
obedience  and  holiness  of  Moses,  I  propose  to  examine 
his  choice,  and  the  reasons  and  motives  which  influenced 
him  in  choosing. 

I.       FIRST,  THEN,  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

"  Moses,  when  he  was  come  to  years,  refused  to  be 
called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ;  choosing  rather 
to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than  to  enjoy 
the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season ;  esteeming  the  reproach 
of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  in  Egypt." 

As  the  adopted  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  thereby 
the  grandson  of  the  king,  Moses  may  have  been  heir 
presumptive  to  the  throne  of  Egypt.  We  have  no 
authentic  account  in  sacred  or  profane  history  that  that 
Pharaoh  was  blessed  with  male  issue,  and  as  the  female 
issue  could  not  peaceably  ascend  the  throne  alone,  them 
Moses  might  have  succeeded  to  the  crown  and  wealth 
and  glory  of  the  most  powerful  kingdom  then  known  to 
the  world.  A  crown  glittered  before  him  and  challenged 
his  gaze.  A  sceptre,  at  the  waving  of  which  loyal  mill- 
ions bowed,  invited  his  grasp.  The  immense  wealth  of 
the  rich  valley  of  the  Nile  spread  out  before  him  and 
awaited  his  pleasure.  Countless  numbers  of  noblemen 
and  peasants,  of  freemen  and  slaves,  of  the  refined  and 
the  great,  were  expectant  to  hail  him  as  their  rightful 


l8  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

sovereign,  to  obey  his  commands  and  bow  at  his  nod. 
In  refusing,  therefore,  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter  he  refused  a  kingdom,  its  power  and  glory. 
He  gave  up,  then,  earth's  greatest  prize,  in  the  estimation 
of  her  sons — a  prize  to  obtain  which  heroes  have  sacri- 
ficed upon  the  gory  field  millions  of  the  human  family ; 
for  which  hunger  and  thirst  have  been  gladly  endured, 
stormy  seas  crossed,  sandy  deserts  traversed,  the  deadly 
blast  of  the  sirocco  met,  rugged  mountains  scaled  and 
polar  snows  endured — a  prize  to  obtain  and  retain  which 
an  Alexander,  a  Caesar,  a  Napoleon,  tasked  and  wasted 
the  mightiest  energies  of  body  and  mind,  and  sacrificed 
their  all — from  that  prize  Moses  turned  away  to  suffer 
affliction  with  the  people  of  God.  O  thou  greatest  and 
best  of  men  !  what  were  the  struggles  that  shook  thy 
manly  breast  as  thrones  and  riches  and  pleasures  passed 
in  tempting  review  before  thee,  and  must  be  given  up 
forever  ? — and  as  affliction,  poverty,  reproach,  shame, 
gathered  about  thee  and  must  be  gladly  endured  ?  God 
only  knows  the  war  that  was  waged  in  thy  anxious  heart 
between  the  powers  of  light  and  of  darkness,  and  of  the 
swayings  of  thy  nature  to  and  fro,  as  an  ebbing  and 
flowing  tide,  and  of  the  light  and  peace  of  thy  mind,  and 
of  the  joyous  bursts  of  heavenly  music  that  rolled  out 
from  harmonious  wires  struck  by  angel  hands,  when  the 
struggle  was  over,  the  choice  made  and  the  victory  won  ! 
But  if  the  supposftion  that  Moses  was  heir  presump- 
tive to  the  throne  of  Egypt  be  incorrect,  still  as  the 
adopted  son  of  the  king's  daughter,  and  a  member  of  the 
royal  family,  the  high  station  and  honors  of  that  family 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  19 

were  his,  their  prerogatives  and  their  wealth.  Every 
earthly  good,  therefore,  that  heart  could  desire  surrounded 
him  and  was  within  his  grasp.  Pleasures  deep  and  full 
crowded  his  pathway,  and  lit  up  with  the  witchery  of  their 
glow  the  future  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage.  O,  how  invit- 
ing, how  tempting,  the  prospect  spread  out  before  him  ! 
Riches,  honors,  pleasures !  Bright  laurels,  and  glittering 
treasures,  and  splendid  halls  flooded  with  sweet,  enchant- 
ing music,  crowded  with  merry  dancers  and  genial  spirits 
of  sensual  pleasure-seekers,  and  fair  arms  and  loving  hearts 
— these  tempted,  wooed  him  to  stay  in  the  royal  palace 
— hung  trembling  in  the  balance,  against  poverty  and 
reproach  and  shame.  And,  as  the  grandson  of  the  king, 
his  position  and  opportunities  for  enjoying  worldly  pleas- 
ures were  as  great,  if  not  greater,  than  if  he  had  filled  the 
throne.  The  duties  of  a  monarch  are  onerous,  his 
responsibilities  great,  his  cares  and  anxieties  many,  per- 
plexing, harassing,  and  sometimes  absolutely  destructive 
of  peace  and  life.  He  who  takes  the  government  of  a 
mighty  kingdom  or  a  great  nation  upon  his  shoulders  takes 
upon  himself  a  burden  that  but  few  can  bear.  What 
time,  then,  has  he  for  indulging  in  the  pleasures  of  sin,  and 
for  pomp  and  show — what  heart  for  such  vanities  ?  But 
the  son,  free  from  the  responsibilities  and  cares  of  gov- 
ernment, in  his  high  position,  and  with  the  immense 
wealth  and  every  opportunity  that  royalty  always  af- 
fords, can,  if  he  choose,  indulge  in  the  pleasures  of  sin 
to  the  full.  Moses,  therefore,  in  refusing  to  be  called 
the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  refused  wealth,  pleasures, 
honors.  He  severed  the  ties  that  connected  him  with 


30  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

monarchs  and  earthly  greatness.  He  turned  away  from 
the  templed  Valley  of  the  Nile  and  refined  society,  from 
loved  and  loving  hearts,  to  ally  himself  with  the  despised 
Israelites,  choosing  to  suffer  reproach  and  affliction 
with  them. 

We  are  informed  by  Josephus  that  Pharaoh  elevated 
Moses  to  the  chief  command  of  the  army  of  Egypt  in  a 
war  waged  against  Ethiopia;  that  he  led  his  army  with 
complete  success  over  a  vast,  sandy  desert  infested  with 
venomous  serpents,  where  a  hostile  force  had  never 
before  dared  to  go ;  that  he  fell  unexpectedly  upon  the 
Ethiopians  and  utterly  routed  them ;  stormed  and  took 
their  capital ;  successfully  and  very  honorably  to  Egypt 
terminated  the  war,  and  led  in  safety  his  triumphant  host 
back  to  Egypt  to  receive  the  approbation  of  the  king  and 
the  plaudits  of  the  admiring  multitude.  And  so  popular 
had  he  become,  so  great  was  his  influence  with  his 
soldiers,  that  he  could  have  led  them  triumphantly,  with 
half  the  nation  at  his  back,  against  his  sovereign ;  could 
have  overcome  him  at  a  blow  and  have  vaulted  to  a  throne; 
could  have  laid  the  foundation  of  a  new  dynasty  and 
bequeathed  to  his  children  for  unnumbered  years  the 
first  prize  in  the  world ;  could  have  shivered  the  yoke  of 
bondage  that  weighed  down  his  kindred  after  the  flesh, 
and  have  elevated  them  to  places  of  trust,  honor  and  profit. 
In  refusing,  therefore,  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter,  he  threw  down  his  high  commission  and  turned 
away  from  the  "  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious 
war,"  the  bright  vistas  of  victorious  campaigns,  and  the 
conqueror's  crown,  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  $1 

God,  and  to  bear  the  reproach  of  Christ.  Examine  this 
subject,  therefore,  from  any  stand-point,  look  at  the  choice 
of  Moses  in  all  its  aspects  and  bearings,  and  the  conclu- 
sion forces  itself  upon  us,  that  it  stands  without  a  parallel ; 
and  we  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  strength  of  his 
faith,  the  depth  of  his  humility,  the  sincerity  of  his  mo- 
tives, the  vigor  of  his  purpose  and  the  elevation  of  his 
piety!  O  !  that  his  mantle  may  fall  on  us  ! 

But  not  only  did  Moses  refuse  to  be  called  the  son  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  hence  a  throne,  and  power,  and 
pleasures,  and  choose  "  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people 
of  God,  but  he  esteemed  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater 
riches  than  the  treasures  in  Egypt."  Great  indeed  were 
the  treasures  in  Egypt.  Her  pyramids  and  mighty 
temples,  now  glorious  in  their  ruins,  her  broken  shafts 
and  mouldering  cities  and  palace-like  tombs,  hewn  from 
the  rock — mournful  mementoes  of  generations  long  since 
passed  away — demonstrate  to  us  that  she  was  rich  and 
powerful.  Her  armies  and  her  commerce,  her  gold  and 
her  silver — who  can  number  them  or  count  their  value  ? 
Moses  gazed  upon  heir  pyramids,  threaded  the  streets  of 
her  proud  cities,  walked  the*  aisles  of  her  magnificent 
temples,  marched  with  and  commanded  her  armies, 
counted  her  golden  treasures,  dwelt  in  her  marble  palaces, 
sat  down  by  her  throne,  and  could  have  laid  his  hand 
upon  her  crown  and  her  sceptre.  But  all,  all,  to  him 
were  utterly  worthless — lighter  than  the  dust  of  the 
balance,  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  eternity  and  weighed 
against  the  favor  of  God  and  eternal  life.  The  reproach 
of  Christ,  when  endured  for  his  sake  and  for  the  hope  of 


3«  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

heaven,  became  invested  with  a  value  compared  with 
which  the  immense  wealth  of  the  Valley  of  the  Nile  was 
as  dross.  The  glory  that  gilded  the  cross  of  Christ,  and 
thence  fell  in  streams  of  radiance  upon  the  bar  of  divine 
justice,  turning  away  its  wrath  and  re-opening  the  way 
to  the  mercy  seat  and  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  which 
revealed  to  his  eye  of  faith  the  ineffable  glories  of  the 
final  home  of  the  righteous,  showed  those  earthly  treas- 
ures to  be  but  gilded  toys,  and  that 

"  Conqueror's  wreaths  and  monarch's  gems 
Shall  blend  in  common  dust." 

"  Esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than 
the  treasures  in  Egypt !"  Fabulous,  illimitable  almost  in 
number  and  value,  were  those  treasures,  but  the  reproach 
of  Christ  is  infinitely  more  valuable.  Those  treasures — 
where  are  they  now  ?  Long  since  they  have  passed 
away,  but  the  riches  of  the  reproach  of  Christ  endure 
still,  and  will  endure,  and  with  new  lustre  shine  after  dis- 
solving throes  shall  have  rent  the  bosom  of  old  earth, 
and  star  after  star  shall  have  faded  from  the  diadem  of 
night!  O  that  the  riches  of  the  reproach  of  Christ 
were  ours  in  all  their  fullness  and  enduring  lustre !  O 
that  the  far  streaming  glory  which  unites  its  every  ray 
upon  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  thence,  as  a  central  sun, 
floods  the  universe,  were  turned  full  upon  our  hearts  and 
along  our  pathways ! 

II.     WHAT  WERE  THE  REASONS  AND  MOTIVES  THAT 

INFLUENCED    MOSES    IN    CHOOSING  ? 

These  are  distinctly  stated  inr  the  text :  he  could  enjoy 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  33 

the  pleasures  of  sin  but  for  a  season,  and  he  had  respect 
unto  the  recompense  oi  the  reward. 

"  The  pleasures  of  sin  " — what  are  they  ?  All  pleas- 
ures which  God  has  forbidden  —  pleasures,  however 
innocent  they  may  seem,  which  are  not  to  His  glory.  All 
others,  and  they  are  almost  illimitable,  are  given  to  us  as 
a  part  of  our  rich  inheritance  here  and  our  glorious 
reward  hereafter.  But  why  are  the  pleasures  of  sin  but 
for  a  season  ? 

First  of  all,  because  desire  is  soon  gratified,  the  appe- 
tite satiated,  and  the  pleasure-seeker  turns  away  with 
loathing  from  the  scenes  and  objects  whence  he  sought 
and  derived  pleasure,  Hence  merry  groups  go  from 
object  to  object,  half  despising  each  in  turn  as  they  pass- 
away  ;  now  drinking  deep  of  this  fountain,  now  of  that ; 
now  threading  the  mazes  of  the  giddy  dance,  or  quaffing 
the  luscious  wine-cup  ;  now  trying  the  excitement  of  the 
game  of  chance ;  now  running  after  the  novel  and  the 
strange,  and  pressing  for  fields  of  love  and  bliss  of 
fancy's  painting,  but  which,  alas !  when  reached  are  arid 
wastes;  and  now,  with  disappointed  hopes  and  surfeited 
or  hollow,  aching  hearts,  turning  and  cursing  with  a 
bitter  curse  their  own  folly,  the  wine-cup  and  the  dance ; 
and  now  again  going  the  same  rounds  of  pleasure. 
Yes,  amid  the  pleasures  of  sin,  while  drinking  in  all 
their  sweets,  the  keen  edge  of  desire  is  turned,  the  appe- 
tite palls,  and  the  sickened  soul  shrinks  back  with  disgust 
and  loathing,  and  would  turn  to  the  fountain  of  living 
waters,  asserting  the  divinity  of  her  origin  and  her  high- 
born destiny !  There  is  not,  in  short,  a  single  pleas- 


34  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

ure  of  sin  in  which  man  desires  to  indulge  in  which 
he  can  indulge  all  the  time.  He  who  dances  would  not 
dance  always.  He  who  is  mighty  to  drink  strong  drink, 
must  pause  some  time.  Nothing  earthly,  indeed,  meets 
and  satisfies  the  longing  desires  of  the  immortal  soul. 
She  turns  from  all  these  sordid  pleasures,  which,  ever  and 
anon,  when  she  has  tasted,  become  bitter  as  the  waters 
of  Mara,  and  pants  for  her  long  lost  Eden !  Such,  in 
fine,  are  the  capacities  with  which  the  great  Creator  has 
•endowed  her  that  the  pleasures  of  sin  in  their  very  nature 
pierce  her  through  and  through  with  a  bitter  sting ;  and 
yet,  blinded  by  the  god  of  this  world,  she  seeks  happiness 
only  in  them  !  O,  that  the  thoughtless,  pleasure-seeking 
-crowds  would  pause  and  read  the  lessons  indellibly 
written  in  their  own  nature,  and  so  often  revealed  in 
bitter,  burning  characters,  proclaiming  to  them  and  to  the 
world  that  the  pleasures  of  sin  are  but  for  a  season ! 

Again  :  The  pleasures  of  sin  are  but  for  a  season, 
because  they  are  evanescent  in  their  nature.  They 
expire  in  our  embrace,  or  vanish  while  we  gaze  upon 
them.  The  springs  and  streams  of  which  we  drink,  and 
at  which  we  would  slake  our  thirst,  and  the  scenes  and 
objects  amid  which  we  revel  and  with  whom  take  de- 
light, pass  away  ofttimes  as  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision, 
and  leave  not  a  wreck  behind  them  but  our  poor, 
disconsolate,  aching  hearts. 

Go  to  the  halls  of  merriment.  Behold  the  groups  of 
pleasure-seekers ;  listen  to  the  swell  of  enchanting  music 
and  the  thoughtless  laugh.  Look  again.  The  merry 
crowds  have  disappeared,  the  exhilarating  sound  of 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  35 

music  is  hushed,  the  thoughtless  laugh  which  rang  out  on 
the  evening  air  has  died  away,  and  regrets  and  anguish 
have  succeeded,  and  the  heart  deeply  feels  that  the 
pleasures  of  sin  are  but  for  a  season. 

Go  to  the  halls  of  Bacchus.  The  wine  sparkles,  the 
flowing  bowl  goes  round;  jolly  fellows  well  met  sip  and 
joke  and  laugh,  and  laugh  and  joke  and  sip  again.  But 
soon,  ah !  soon,  the  spell  is  broken,  the  wine  ceases  its 
flow,  the  joke  and  the  laugh  are  hushed,  and  the-  merry 
fellows  slink  away  to  mourn  in  loneliness  their  folly,  or 
to  regret  that  the  pleasures  of  sin  were  so  short-lived. 

The  rose  that  blooms  by  your  pathway  to-day  and 
throws  its  sweetness  on  the  passing  breeze,  ere  to-morrow 
will  have  withered.  The  smiling  faces  and  lovely  forms 
with  and  of  whom  you  now  seek  pleasures,  ere  a  few 
hours  or  days  number  their  brief  moments,  will  have 
passed  away,  it  may  be,  never  more  to  return.  The 
rippling  streams  and  flowery  landscapes  will  have  ceased 
the  music  of  their  flow  or  have  faded  ere  the  soul 
realizes  the  cooling  draught  or  reposes  amid  their 
sweets.  The  golden  scenes  which  imagination  paints 
in  the  eventful  future,  and  amid  which  fond  hope 
promises  that  you  shall  revel,  recede  as  you  approach 
them,  or,  alas!  when  you  reach  them,  are,  like  the 
deceptious  painting  of  the  mirage,  but  arid  wastes. 
O !  how  the  soul's  fond  hopes  of  sinful  pleasure  are 
blighted!  The  sirocco  sweeps  the  landscape,  the  foun- 
tains are  dried  up  or  become  bitter,  and  the  loved  forms 
and  warm  hearts  of  boon  companions  are  touched  by 
the  cold  skeleton  hand  of  death,  and  are  dust ! 


36  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

Once  more:  The  pleasures  of  sin  are  but  for  a  season, 
because  of  the  brevity  of  human  life.  Few  indeed  are 
the  days  of  our  pilgrimage ;  short  our  stay  upon  the 
shores  of  time.  We  are  as  the  flower  that  blooms  in  the 
morning  and  ere  noon  withers ;  or,  we  come  and  go,  as 
bubbles  upon  the  bosom  of  the  stormy  deep.  Our  days, 
it  is  true,  may  be  threescore  years  and  ten,  and  by  rea- 
son of  strength  even  fourscore  years,  yet  how  soon  they 
fly  away,  and  are  but  as  a  moment  compared  with  "  the 
measureless  enduring  of  eternity."  But  the  greater  part 
of  our  race  die  ere  the  noon  of  life,  and  countless  millions 
in  the  full  vigor  and  glow  of  the  bright  morning  of  exist- 
ence. They  but  open  their  eyes  to  the  pleasures  of  sin, 
they  but  hear  the  songs  of  revelry,  they  but  taste  the 
sweets  of  that  stream  whose  surface  may  be  nectar,  but 
whose  depths  are  hell,  and  see  and  hear  and  taste  no 
more  forever ! 

The  history  of  the  past  is  strewed  with  the  wieck  of 
worldly  hopes.  The  devotees  of  pleasure  have  chased 
each  other  from  bower  to  bower,  or  have  pursued  each 
other  along  the  enchanting  ways  of  sin,  and  have  quickly 
disappeared,  each  in  his  turn,  to  meet  a  fiery  doom. 
Solomon  and  Alexander — where  are  they?  Pharaoh, 
from  the  templed  Nile,  and  Belshazzar,  from  the  splendid 
palaces  of  Babylon,  the  voluptuaries  of  proud  Athens, 
the  debauchees  of  mighty  Rome,  and  the  sensual  crowds 
of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  ?  And  where  are  the  pleas- 
ure-seekers of  Corinth  and  Ephesus,  of  Troy  and  Carth- 
age, of  Cairo  and  Petra  ?  Echo  answers,  where  ?  Death 
has  hushed  in  eternal  silence  their  songs  of  mirth,  and 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  37 

many  of  their  proud  cities,  with  their  temples  of  pleasure 
and  chambers  of  vice,  moulder  in  undistinguishable 
ruins,  and  "  the  voice  of  harpers  and  musicians,  and  of 
pipers  and  trumpeters,  are  heard  no  more  at  all  in  them." 
The  curse  of  Omnipotence  has  swept  them  with  the 
besom  of  destruction  and  left  them  as  monuments  of 
avenging  wrath  to  warn  the  chijdren  of  men  in  all  ages 
that  the  pleasures  of  sin  are  an  offense  to  Him,  and  are 
but  for  a  season.  A  few  years  hence,  what  and  where 
will  be  the  busy,  eager  throngs  who  now  seek  their  hap- 
piness and  their  heaven  in  the  pleasures  of  sin  ?  Their 
drinking  and  reveling  will  be  over;  the  merry  laugh  and 
the  charmer's  voice  will  be  hushed ;  the  dancer's  heels 
will  be  still ;  and  noisome  worms  in  the  dust  will  revel 
then  and  chime  a  low  requiem  by  their  gnawings  in  the 
deserted  palace  of  the  soul !  O !  how  brief  are  the 
pleasures  of  sin!  How  they  come  and  go  as  the  chang- 
ing scenes  of  the  kaleidoscope,  and  leave  naught  behind 
them  but  bitter  remembrances,  sleepless  remorse,  the 
curse  of  God  and  endless  death.  Moses  felt,  aye,  by  the 
light  of  faith  knew,  that  the  pleasures  of  sin  are  but  for  a 
season,  that  he  might  wear  a  crown  and  sway  a  sceptre ; 
might  revel  in  halls  of  feasting  and  song,  and  riot  upon 
the  lap. of  pleasure;  might  expire  upon  a  bed  of  down, 
beneath  a  gilded  canopy,  surrounded  by  the  great,  and 
lie  down  in  a  splendid  mausoleum  hewn  from  the  imper- 
ishable rock,  but  that  in  a  moment  these  pleasures  and 
this  grandeur  would  all  fade  away,  and  that  beyond  the 
wrath  of  Omnipotence  must  be  met  and  banishment  from 
His  peaceful  presence  into  everlasting  punishment  would 


38  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

be  his  doom.  And  as  he  sat  beside  the  throne  and 
heard  the  voice  of  charmers,  and  saw  merry  crowds  come 
and  go,  and  gazed  upon  the  wealth  and  earthly  great- 
ness around  him,  and  saw  their  waning  glory,  and  then 
looked  up  and  away  to  the  retributions  of  the  coming 
judgment  and  to  the  imperishable  and  eternal,  I  im- 
agine I  hear  him  sing, 

"And  am  I  only  born  to  die, 
And  must  I  suddenly  comply 
With  nature's  stern  decree  ? 

V^Vhat  after  death  for  me  remains — 
Celestial  joys  or  hellish  pains, 
\To  all  eternity  ? 

"No  room  for  mirth  or  trifling  here, 
For  worldly  hope  or  worldly  fear, 

If  life  so  soon  is  gone ; 
If  now  the  Judge  is  at  the  door, 
And  all  mankind  must  stand  before 
The  inexorable  throne ! 

"Jesus,  vouchsafe  a  pitying  ray ; 
Be  thou  my  guide,  be  thou  my  way, 

To  glorious  happiness ! 
Ah !  write  thy  pardon  on  my  heart, 
And  whensoe'er  I  hence  depart 

Let  me  depart  in  peace  !  " 

The  prayer  was  heard,  the  pitying  ray  vouchsafed,  the 
pardon  written  on  his  heart,  and  he  arose  and  went  out 
from  the  royal  palace  and  the  wealth  and  pleasures  of 
Egypt,  to  return  no  more  as  the  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter ! 

"  He  had  respect  unto  the  recompense  of  the  re- 
ward." The  term  reward,  in  its  ordinary  import,  sig- 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  39 

nifies  value  received,  an  equivalent  returned.  The  word 
recompense  is  of  similar  meaning.  But  as  man  can 
merit  no  favor  or  blessing  of  God,  we  must  interpret 
these  terms  in  an  evangelical  sense;  that  is,  that  the 
favor  of  God  and  endless  fruition  with  Him  in  heaven 
are  gratuities  vouchsafed  to  the  faithful,  obedience  being 
the  condition  upon  which  they  are  givea 

"  The  recompense  of  the  reward,"  which,  as  a  power- 
ful motive,  moved  Moses  to  refuse  to  be  called  the  son 
of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  choose  to  suffer  affliction 
with  the  people  of  God,  embraces,  first  of  all,  peace  with 
Him  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  full  light  of 
hope  while  running  the  race  set  before  us.  An  abiding 
sense  of  the  approbation  of  God  and  the  indwelling, 
witnessing  Spirit,  crying  Abba  Father,  the  believer's  priv- 
ilege and  realization,  make  a  heaven  below  and  a  recom- 
pense of  reward  even  in  our  pilgrimage.  Moses  realized 
these  in  the  fullest  sense.  As  he  went  out  from  the 
royal  palace,  as  he  journeyed  alone  in  the  wilderness,  or 
reposed  his  weary  head  at  night  upon  a  stone  pillow,  a 
still,  small  voice  whispered  within,  "  All  is  well !  "  and 
there  welled  up  from  the  depths  of  his  glad  heart  this 
song : 

"  Content  with  beholding  his  face, 

My  all  to  his  pleasure  resigned ; 
No  changes  of  season  or  place 

Would  make  any  change  in  my  mind. 
While  blessed  with  a  sense  of  his  love, 

A  palace  a  toy  would  appear, 
And  prisons  would  palaces  prove, 

If  Jesus  would  dwell  with  me  there." 


40  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

Yes,  surely,  he  who  communed  with  his  Maker  face  to 
face  ;  who  was  hid  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock  by  the  hand 
of  the  Almighty,  and  saw  as  He  passed  by  all  that 
mortal  eye  can  see  of  the  ineffably  glorious  One  and 
live ;  whose  face,  from  the  light  of  joy  within  and  the 
reflected  light  of  the  Shekinah,  was  too  bright  upon  which 
for  Israel  to  gaze,  so  that  he  was  veiled;  surely  he  had 
a  recompense  of  reward  in  the  wilderness  as  he  toiled  on 
to  the  promised  land — a  reward  amid  the  smoke  and 
din  of  battle.  With  him,  indeed,  glory  had  begun  be- 
low, and 

"  Celestial  fruit  on  earthly  ground 
From  faith  and  hope  did  grow." 

Again,  the  recompense  of  the  reward  embraces  a  tri- 
umphant, glorious  death. 

"  The  chamber  where  the  good  man  meets  his  fate 
Is  privileged  above  the  common  walks 
Of  virtuous  life,  quite  on  the  verge  of  heaven." 

"  And  Moses  went  up  from  the  plains  of  Moab  unto 
the  mountain  of  Nebo,  to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  and  the 
Lord  showed  him  all  the  land  of  Gilead  unto  Dan ;  and 
all  Naphthali,  and  the  land  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh, 
and  all  the  land  of  Judah,  unto  the  utmost  sea ;  and  the 
South  and  the  plain  of  the  valley  of  Jericho,  the  city  of 
palm  trees,  unto  Zoar.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him, 
This  is  the  land  which  I  sware  unto  Abraham,  unto 
Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  saying,  I  will  give  it  unto  thy 
seed  j  I  have  caused  thee  to  see  it  with  thine  eyes,  but 
thou  shalt  not  go  over  thither.  So  Moses,  the  servant 
of  the  Lord,  died  there  in  the  land  of  Moab,  and  He 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  41 

buried  him  in  a  valley  over  against  Bethpeor."  What 
a  death  scene !  What  a  happy  exit !  What  a  glorious 
termination  of  a  life,  of  faith !  In  triumph  he  steps  across 
the  Jordan  of  death  !  No  cold  wave  chills  him  !  No 
darkness  shrouds  him  !  Tis  but  the  bright  way  to  end- 
less joy!  And  now  on  the  eternal  shore  he  receives  the 
crown  of  life  and  sits  down  by  the  throne  of  the  Great 
King  in  his  uncreated  palace  of  light ! 
•  Finally,  the  recompense  of  reward  embraces  the  appro- 
bation of  God  in  the  judgment  and  an  entrance  into  and 
full  fruition  of  His  joy  forever. 

"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  Lord,"  is  the  reward  that  will  greet  the 
faithful,  and  with  which  they  will  be  crowned  beyond 
this  vale  of  tears. 

"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant."  How  these 
words,  as  they  shall  fall  from  the  lips  of  the  Judge,  will 
thrill  the  soul  with  peace  and  joy !  For  this  we  have 
denied  ourselves,  and  endured  the  cross,  despising  the 
shame ;  for  this  run  the  race  set  before  us,  and  toiled  on 
amid  defeats  as  well  as  victories,  and  hoped,  and  some- 
times feared,  and  wept  and  prayed  ;  and  now,  as  we  stand 
before  the  inflexible  bar,  time  gone,  eternity  before  us, 
our  destiny  in  the  balance,  the  Judge  approves.  O  !  the 
unutterable  bliss  of  that  moment !  This  was  the  blessed 
sound  that  greeted  the  ear  of  Moses,  when,  having  at 
once  ceased  to  work  and  live,  He  stood  in  the  presence 
of  Him  who  dispenses  the  awards  of  eternity.  The 
righteous  Judge  approved  his  faith,  his  choice,  his  works, 
4 


42  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

and  pronounced  his  eulogy  in  a  sentence  that  will  shine 
above  the  brightness  of  the  stars  forever ! 

"  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord" — "  the  joy  of" 
the  ineffably  blessed  One !  What  mind  can  fathom, 
what  tongue  reveal  it  ?  We  know  somewhat  of  his  joy, 
it  is  true,  from  the  sweet  notes  of  feathered  songsters, 
the  gentle  lowing  of  distant  herds,  the  hum  of  the  bee 
in  the  flowery  vale,  the  sporting  of  finny  shoals  in  their 
watery  way,  for  He  is  their  maker,  and  imparts  to  them 
their  happiness.  We  know  somewhat  of  his  joy  from 
the  innocent  prattle  of  the  dear  little  child,  the  ecstatic 
joy  of  the  new-born  soul,  the  overflowing  peace  of  the 
pilgrim's  heart  as  he  stands  upon  some  Pisgah  and  sings, 

"  We  taste  a  pure  drop  of  his  love, 

The  life  of  eternity  know  j 
Angelical  happiness  prove, 
And  enjoy  a  heaven  below ;  " 

from  the  seraph's  shining  face  and  grateful  song,  and 
from  the  bright  host  who,  in  his  presence,  tremble  with 
fullness  of  joy,  and  fall  down  and  in  silence  adore  !  We 
know  somew  hat  of  his  joy,  from  the  transcendent  beauty 
and  loveliness  of  the  city  where  He  dwells ;  its  jasper 
walls  and  sapphire  gates,  its  golden  streets  and  crystal 
streams,  its  trees  of  life  and  thrones  of  light,  its  peaceful 
flow  of  unending  years,  forever  brightening  as  they  roll ! 
From  all  these  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  joy  of  God, 
but  it  is  only  a  glimpse.  Beyond  th'e  bright  cloud  that 
skirts  his  unseen  glory,  where  angels  never  tread,  could 
we  go  and  gaze  upon  that  which  created  eye  hath  never 
seen,  and  hear  that  which  created  ear  hath  never  heard, 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  43 

and  bow  down  close  by  the  throbbings  of  His  almighty 
heart  of  love,  and  feel  its  pulsations  of  joy,  and  catch  the 
first  warm  outgushing  from  that  centre  and  source  of  life, 
and  love  and  bliss — but  even  then,  without  an  eternity  in 
which  to  quaff  the  exhaustless  stream,  we  could  know 
but  little  of  the  joy  of  our  Lord.  O !  it  is  a  theme  too 
high  for  seraphs  to  unfold ;  what  then  can  mortals  do  ? 
I  can  only  feebly  point  you  to  the  rills  of  that  infinite 
ocean,  and  tell  you  that  in  it  you  may  bathe  your  weary 
souls  forever.  Into  that  joy  Moses  entered.  In  that  joy 
he  lives  and  adores  to-day,  and  in  that  joy  he  will  forever 
live  and  forever  approximate  in  intellectual  and  moral 
improvement  the  glorious  character  and  image  of  Him 
who  sits  upon  the  throne ! 

These,  then,  were  the  reasons  and  motives  that 
influenced  Moses  to  refuse  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pha- 
raoh's daughter,  and  choose  to  suffer  affliction  with  the 
people  of  God.  "The  pleasures  of  sin  are  but  for  a  season, 
and  he  had  respect  unto  the  recompense  of  the  reward.'* 

But  the  Apostle  informs  us,  that  it  was  by  faith  Moses 
gave  up  the  wealth  and  pleasures  of  Egypt,  and  chose 
poverty  and  affliction  with  the  people  of  God.  But  faith 
is  not  a  reason,  a  motive,  but  an  instrumentality.  By  it 
the  reasons  and  motives  we  have  reviewed  were  perceived, 
understood,  appreciated.  Faith,  "  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen,"  brings  nigh  the  remote  and  reveals  the  invisi- 
ble ;  weighs,  as  in  the  balance  of  eternity,  the  wealth, 
and  pleasures,  and  glory  of  earth,  against  the  favor  of 
God  and  the  enduring  riches  and  glories  of  the  heavenly 
world,  and  shows  their  relation,  duration,  value.  Hence, 


44         .  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

by  the  light  of  faith  Moses  saw  as  clearly  as  we  now 
see  the  emptiness  and  transitory  nature  of  the  riches  and 
pleasures  of  Egypt  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  fullness  of 
joy  and  pleasures  forevermore  of  the  presence  and  throne 
of  God  on  the  other.  And  without  faith,  or  had  he 
been  a  skeptic,  the  future,  the  invisible,  the  recompense 
of  the  reward  would  have  been  as  nonentities  to  him,  and 
the  present,  the  tangible,  would  have  filled  his  vision,  and 
have  engrossed  the  affections  of  his  heart.  In  that  case, 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  would  have  been  a 
libertine,  a  conqueror,  a  haughty,  heartless  tyrant.  In 
the  pleasures  of  sin  he  would  have  lived,  and  in  the 
darkness  of  despair  have  expired.  The  doctrine,  then, 
which  assumes  that  it  matters  not  what  we  believe,  so  our 
hearts  are  right,  is  not  only  in  conflict  with  the  word  of  God, 
but  unphilosophical  and  absurd.  Without  faith,  the  reasons 
and  motives  to  self-denial  and  obedience  brought  to  light 
in  the  blessed  revealments  of  heaven  can  never  be  per- 
ceived, and  cannot,  therefore,  affect  the  heart.  Heaven 
and  hell,  to  the  unbelieving,  are  as  nonentities,  the  resur- 
rection and  the  judgment  as  idle  tales.  But  in  the  light 
of  faith,  they  stand  out  before  us  as  momentous  realities, 
and  wealth,  and  power,  and  pleasure  assume  their  true 
character,  and  dwindle  into  insignificance.  By  faith, 
therefore,  the  whole  current  of  our  feelings  is  changed, 
and  we  walk  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible. 

By  faith  Moses  peered  into  the  deep  abyss  of  the 
eternity  to  which  he  was  hastening.  As  a  mighty  pano- 
rama, heaven  and  hell  passed  before  him.  The  bright 
plains  and  mansions  of  the  one,  bathed  in  the  light  of  the 


THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES.  45 

glory  of  God,  stretched  away,  peopled  with  pure,  happy 
spirits,  reposing  beneath  amaranthine  bowers,  or  beside 
the  bright  waters  of  life,  or  bowing  with  wrapt  ecstacy 
before  the  throne,  the  melody  of  whose  voices  and  harps 
ravished  his  ear.  The  fathomless  depths,  and  starless, 
rayless  night  of  the  other,  in  the  dismal  distance,  came 
and  went,  "  filled  with  most  miserable  beings,"  "  worn 
and  wasted  with  enormous  woe,"  "  forever  dying,  yet 
never  dead,"  the  wail  of  whose  agony  froze  his  soul  with 
horror.  He  heard  the  shriek  of  its  tempests  of  wrath, 
and  the  hiss  of  its  burning  waves  !  Old  earth  also  came 
up  before  him.  Her  charm  was  broken ;  as  hell  threat- 
end  and  heaven  invited,  he  cast  down  and  trampled 
under  foot,  her  crowns,  and  honors,  and  pleasures,  and 
chose  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God.  Wise 
was  his  choice,  and  ineffably  glorious  his  reward ! 

We  learn  from  this  subject  that  man  is  a  moral  agent. 
Life  and  death  are  set  before  him.  Motives  and  reasons 
are  presented  to  his  enlightened  judgment  that  he  may 
choose  life.  But  in  the  error  of  his  way  he  may  shut  his 
eyes  to  the  light,  reject  the  proffered  good,  and  choose 
the  pleasures  of  sin  and  eternal  death.  Moses,  when  he 
was  come  to  years,  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pha- 
raoh's daughter,  choosing  to  suffer  affliction  with  the 
people  of  God.  These  terms  certainly  imply  that  he 
could  have  acted  differently.  Man,  then,  is  not  a  mere 
automaton  or  an  inert  balance,  moved  only  as  some 
impulse  moves  him,  but  has  in  himself  a  self  determining 
power.  "  The  spring  of  the  soul's  activity  is  ever  within 
the  soul"  says  an  able  writer  of  another  school.  "  Man 


46  THE  CHOICE  OF  MOSES. 

is  constituted,"  says  another,  "a  voluntary  being;  he  is 
endowed  with  the  faculty  of  choosing,  instead  of  taking 
his  place  in  a  succession  of  antecedents ;  and,  conse- 
quently, he  is  a  free  worker ;  and  consciously  governs  his 
inward  self  independently  of  foreign  antecedents  and 
consequences."  "  In  the  fact  of  voluntariness,  the  fact  of 
the  power  of  choosing,  the  Almighty  has  conferred  on 
man  secondary,  but,  nevertheless,  real  independence." 
"There  is  nothing  but  the  recognition  of  such  a  free 
agency  in  man,  however  mysterious  and  unaccountable, 
that  can  preserve  to  him  faith  in  himself,  or  the  perilous 
dignity  of  responsibility  among  the  creatures  of  earth." 
You,  then,  my  friends,  may  choose  life  or  death.  Nay, 
you  can  but  choose,  for  every  cherished  desire,  and  every 
word  and  act  is  on  the  side  of  God  and  heaven,  and  is 
preparing  you,  by  divine  grace,  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light;  or  is  on  the  side  of  the  enemy  of  souls, 
and  is  fitting  you  for  a  place  with  the  damned.  God 
help  you  choose  the  better  part,  and  may  the  foundation 
on  which  you  build  be  the  Rock  of  Ages ! 


PREACHING    CHRIST. 

BY  REV.  J.  H.  PRITCHETT, 
Of  the  Missouri    Conference. 


' '  Whom  we  preach,  warning  every  man,  and  teaching  every  man 
in  all  wisdom ;  that  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ 
Jesus."— COL.  i.  28. 

True  greatness  is  no  accident  of  fickle  fortune,  no 
child  of  place  or  circumstance.  It  is  the  resultant  of 
God  above  and  the  heart  within,  subordinating  time  and 
place  and  circumstance  to  the  ends  of  the  immortal  life 
that  is  in  us.  It  is  no  man's  birthright ;  or,  if  any  man's, 
under  grace,  it  is  every  man's.  There  is  no  philosophy, 
no  truth,  in  the  threadbare  solecism  :  "  Some  men  are 
born  great."  There  is  still  less  in  that  other :  "  Some 
have  greatness  thrust  upon  them."  God's  gifts  are  with- 
out partiality,  and  it  is  neither  honorable  nor  seemly  in 
any  man  to  boast  of  these  gifts  as  though  he  had  received 
them.  He  is  the  truly  great  man  who  realizes  to  the 
Proprietor  of  the  universe  the  highest  possible  return  for 
the  investment  made  in  him.  Greatness,  then,  is  the 
achievement  of  consecrated  labor.  Simple  place  has 
nothing  to  do  with  it;  the  manner  of  filling  the  place, 
everything.  The  number  or  character  of  the  talents  is 
of  little  consequence ;  the  manner  of  using  what  we  have, 


48  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

all  we  have,  is  of  infinite  moment.     "  Act  well  your 
part,"  solves  the  whole  problem. 

"If  done  to  obey  God's  laws, 
E'en  servile  labors  shine  ; 
Hallowed  is  toil  if  this  the  cause, 
The  meanest  work  divine." 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  an  infinite  littleness  about 
the  grandest  human  achievements  when  they  are  prompted 
by  motives  of  selfishness  and  unholy  ambition,  that  the 
philosophy  of  this  world  has  never  undertaken  to  esti- 
mate. Hence,  the  greatness  of  men  is  littleness  with 
God,  just  as  the  wisdom  of  men  is  foolishness  with  God ; 
and,  just  because  these  things  are  so,  "  God  has  chosen 
the  foolish  things  of  this  world  to  confound  the  wise,  and 
the  weak  things  to  confound  the  mighty,  that  no  flesh 
should  glory  in  his  presence." 

If  this  theory  holds  good  as  applied  to  men  at  large, 
it  is  pre-eminently  true  as  it  affects  those  who  minister 
in  holy  things.  Here  there  can  be  no  mistake  touching 
the  law  under  which  greatness  is  evolved.  "  If  any  man 
will  be  great  among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister,  and 
whosoever  will  be  chiefest  shall  be  servant  of  all :  •  for 
even  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister." 

These  remarks  are  pertinent  to  the  matter  introduced 
in  the  text,  as  they  furnish  us  with  a  standard  by  which 
to  measure  the  character  of  its  author. 

If  S*ul  of  Tarsus  was  a  very  "  chief  of  sinners,"  by  this 
measure  Paul  the  Apostle  was  a  very  prince  among  great 
men — a  very  Gabriel  among  the  "  angels  of  the  churches." 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  4^ 

Under  Jesus  Christ  no  other  man's  influence  has  been 
so  profound,  so  intense,  so  far-reaching.  If  infidelity 
were  to-day  competent  to  disprove  his  divine  inspira- 
tion, it  would  still  be  subjected  to  the  severer  task  of 
accounting  upon  any  other  hypothesis  for  the  impress 
which  he  has  left  upon  Christianity,  and,  through  Chris- 
tianity, upon  the  world. 

His  birth,  which  was  that  of  a  freeman  among  politi- 
cal slaves;  his  natural  endowments,  which  were  second 
to  those  of  no  contemporary ;  his  education,  which  was 
thoroughly  Jewish,  though  liberally  Grecian;  his  con- 
version, which  is  without  a  parallel  in  any  age;  his 
supernatural  gifts,  which  were  wholly  peculiar  to  himselfr 
have  all  been  frequently  instanced  as  indicative,  not  only 
of  a  remarkable  personage,  but  also  of  a  remarkable 
relation  to  the  system  of  philosophy  with  which  he 
became  so  suddenly,  so  unexpectedly,  so  strongly  iden- 
tified. His  field  of  operations,  too,  covering,  as  it  did,. 
Western  Asia,  Northern  Africa  and  Southern  Europe, 
embracing,  as  it  did,  almost  every  possible  variety  of 
faith  and  practice,  religion  and  government,  caste  and 
color,  language  and  learning,  has  been  noticed  as  fur- 
nishing the  most  ample  opportunities  for  the  right  invest- 
ment of  his  gifts,  the  most  useful  employment  of  his 
powers.  The  things  which  God  thus  gave  to  Paul,  the 
place  in  which  he  put  him,  and  the  work  which  he  gave 
him  to  do,  certainly  evidence  in  no  small  degree  his 
infinite  wisdom  in  adapting  means  to  ends.  But  the 
thing  which  signals  Paul  as  the  great  man  and  the  model 
preacher  of  his  age  is  that  his  extraordinary  sphere  was 


50  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

filled,  and  his  heaven-tempered  weapons  were  wielded 
so  as  to  yield  the  largest  possible  revenue  of  honor  to 
God,  of  blessing  to  men.  In  his  utter  abandonment  of 
self,  in  the  entire  absorption  of  his  powers  by  the  cause 
of  Him  who  had  called  him  to  his  apostleship,  he  be- 
came, next  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  the  embod- 
iment of  its  spirit,  the  exponent  of  its  doctrines,  the 
founder  of  its  government.  As  a  wise  master-builder  he 
laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  the  whole  Chris- 
tian system ;  witnessing  in  the  Spirit,  "  Other  foundation 
can  no  man  lay."  And,  having  so  well  performed  his 
own  part,  for  the  warning  and  instruction  of  each  suc- 
ceeding "  craftsman  "  who  might  come  to  labor  upon 
the  walls  of  his  beloved  temple,  over  the  main  portal,  in 
bold  relief,  he  inscribed  these  startling  memoranda: 
"  Let  every  man  take  heed  how  he  buildeth  hereon ;  lor 
every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest ;  and  the  fire 
shall  try  every  man's  work,  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any 
man's  work  abide  which  he  hath  built  hereon  he  shall 
receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he 
shall  suffer  loss."  To  follow  the  designs,  then,  which 
this  spiritual  Hiram  has  left  upon  the  gospel  "  trestle- 
board  "  is  always  safe  for  those  who  are  engaged  in  the 
glorious  work  of  "  polishing  "  and  fitting  stones  for  that 
"  house  eternal  in  the  heavens."  But,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  to  substitute  other  degrees  for  these  is,  under  any 
circumstances,  to  say  the  least,  both  impertinent  and  pre- 
sumptuous. Surely  all  who  would  be  characterized  by 
the  apostle's  "  we  "  of  the  text,  must  walk  according  to 
his  rule,  and  preach  after  the  model  which  he  furnishes. 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  $1 

In  the  light  of  the  text,  we  proceed  to  examine  that 
model  now. 

The  language  under   consideration    is  pre-eminently 
Pauline.     It  is  chockful  of  seed-thoughts,  each  of  which 
is  more  precious  to  the  true  "  man  of  God  "  than  all  the 
"  Gems  from  the  mountan,  and  pearls  from  the  ocean, 
Myrrh  from  the  forest,  and  gold  from  the  mine." 

From  this  rich  vein  I  adduce,  first  of  all,  the  truth,  of 
which  the  whole  life  of  our  apostle,  from  the  hour  the 
scales  fell  from  his  eyes  in  Damascus  to  the  day  of  his 
martyrdom  in  Rome,  was  but  a  beautiful  and  striking 
illustration,  that  God,  in  consummating  a  plan  for  saving 
sinners,  has  made  it  the  business  of  some  men  to  preach. 
"  We  preach,"  says  the  grand  old  missionary  for  the 
Roman  empire,  and  his  declaration  was  no  idle  boast. 
He  did  preach.  With  what  effect,  let  the  fallen  fortunes 
of  Diana  of  Ephesus,  the  confusion  of  the  supreme 
court  of  Athens,  the  trembling  slave-governor  of  Judea, 
and  the  almost  persuaded  King  of  Chalcis,  testify. 
Paul  believed  in  preaching,  and  showed  his  faith  by  his 
works.  He  was  emphatically  and  pre-eminently  a 
preacher.  His  faith  in  the  world's  subjugation  to  the 
authority  of  the  Nazarene  rested  neither  in  the  policy 
and  cohorts  of  Ceasar,  nor  in  the  mock  ministrations  of 
an  effete  priesthood  at  an  obsolete  altar;  but  in  the 
fulminations  of  the  pulpit,  filled  with  a  living  preacher 
made  eloquent  by  the  "  tongue  office,"  and  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven. 

His  faith  knew  and  his  practice  made  no  compromise 
with  the  world,  the  flesh,  or  the  devil.     His  preaching 


$2  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

gave  him  the  mastery  of  every  situation  —  the  victory  in 
every  conflict.  Said  he  to  the  Corinthians,  "  Christ  sent 
me  to  preach."  As  a  reason  for  his  commission  to  this 
work  exclusively,  he  says  futher  :  "  For  after  that,  in  the 
wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God  :  it 
pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save 
them  that  believe." ' 

Paul  evidently  expected  that  his  successors  in  the 
Gospel  ministry  would,  as  exclusively  as  himself,  be 
devoted  to  preaching.  Said  he  to  Timothy,  "  I  charge 
thee,  therefore,  before  God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
.  .  .  .  preach  the  word." 

The  world,  the  Church,  even  the  ministry  of  to-day, 
have  no  adequate  conception  of  the  power  that  God  has 
lodged  in,  and  the  results  that  God  has  ordained  shall 
flow  from,  earnest,  simple,  faithful  preaching. 

Preaching,  a^s  a  means,  wrought  all  the  wonders  of 
Pentecost,  and  of  the  days  that  immediately  succeeded 
in  Jerusalem.  Incident  to  the  persecutions  that  followed 
the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  the  disciples  went  every- 
where "  preaching."  The  Church  was  first  planted  in 
Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Rome,  and  indeed  in  every 
place  by  preaching;  and  only  as  faith  in  the  eternal 
word,  as  the  only  means  of  human  enlightenment  and 
salvation,  was  dimmed  by  the  glare  and  glitter  of  pride 
and  power;  only  as  the  Church  exchanged  the  arm  of 
her  "  beloved  "  for  an  arm  of  flesh ;  only  as  her  pulpits 
were  substituted  by  altars  (falsely  so-called),  and  her 
preachers  affected  to  be  priests,  did  her  glory  depart,  and 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  53 

she  became  the  apostate,  the  corrupt,  the  abominable 
thing  of  the  middle  ages. 

Furthermore,  every  prominently  successful  reform  in 
the  Church  (instance  that  in  Germany  under  Luther, 
that  in  Scotland  under  Knox,  and  that  in  England  under 
Wesley,)  has  been  effected  under  the  auspices  of  bold, 
uncompromising,  soul-searching  preaching.  Happy  the 
Church  whose  ministers  preach  with  an  unction  from 
God !  Happy  the  preachers  who  belong  to  the  Pauline 
"  succession."  But  woe  to  the  Church  when  her  de- 
mand is  that  of  the  ritualistic  Jew,  or  the  rationalistic 
Greek.  Woe  to  the  ministry  when  the  bold,  sin-reprov- 
ing, God-honoring  utterances  of  the  Gospel  are  displaced 
by  the  popular  secularisms  and  morbid  sentimentalisms 
of  the  age.  The  world  to-day,  east,  west,  north  and 
south,  needs,  sadly  needs,  just  what  Paul's  mission-field 
needed — preaching;  and  nothing  but  this  will  ever  witness 
the  gospel  to  "  every  creature,"  and  gloriously  usher  in 
the  "  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 

God  help  his  servants  to  preach,  until  the  apocalyptic 
angel,  flying  through  the  midst  of  heaven,  shall  supple- 
ment our  mission  and  proclaim  the  fall  of  Babylon ! 

Another  weighty  truth  gathered  from  the  text  is,  that 
the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  every  Gospel  sermon  is  Jesus 
Christ,  "  whom  we  preach."  Him  first,  him  last,  him 
midst,  him  only.  Says  our  model  preacher,  "  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  for  it  is  the  power  of 
God,"  etc.  Again,  "I  determined  to  know  nothing 
among  you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified."  Still 
again,  "  We  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the 


54  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

Lord."  Finally,  "  Though  we  or  an  angel  from  heaven 
preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  we  have 
preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed." 

With  Paul  Christ  was  the  central  figure  of  the  world's 
history,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  theory.  With  him  he  was 
emphatically  "  Head  over  all  things  to  the  Church." 
Hence,  the  cause  of  Christ  was  to  him  the  summation 
of  all  human  interests;  and  the  preaching  of  the  Cross 
in  his  esteem  furnished  the  only  antidote  for  all  the 
personal,  domestic,  social  and  political  ills  that  curse  the 
world.  A  few  extracts,  taken  almost  at  random  from  his 
Epistles,  will  at  once  confirm  and  illustrate  this  view : 

"  If  any  man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature. 
Whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Wives,  submit  yourselves  to  your  husbands  as 
unto  the  Lord ;  husbands,  love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ 
also  loved  the  Church  and  gave  himself  for  it;  children, 
obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord ;  fathers,  provoke  not  your 
children  to  wrath,  but  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord ;  servants,  be  obedient  to  them 
that  are  your  masters,  according  to  the  flesh,  .... 
not  with  eye  service  as  men-pleasers,  but  as  the  servants 
of  Christ.  Now,  therefore,  there  is  utterly  a  fault  among 
you,  because  ye  go  to  law  one  with  another ;  why  do  ye 
not  rather  take  wrong  ?  Why  do  ye  not  rather  suffer 
yourselves  to  be  defrauded  ?  The  servant  of  the  Lord  must 
not  strive.  The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal. 
Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good. 
If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of 
his.  If  any  man  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  he  shall 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  55 

suffer  persecution.     If  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall   also 
be  glorified  together." 

But  I  forbear.  Be  it  known,  however,  that  Paul  himself 
never  once  swerved  from  the  true  philosophy  of  life's  re- 
lations herein  enunciated.  Hence  he  soon  found  himself 
antagonized,  like  his  divine  Master,  by  every  dominant 
system  of  earth,  religious,  scientific  and  governmental. 
Nor  did  his  own  personal  inoffensiveness,  nor  did  the  con- 
servative nature  of  his  philosophy,  protect  him  from  any 
one  of  them.  To  the  bigoted  ecclesiatic  his  theory  and 
practice  constituted  a  "  stumbling  block."  To  the  proud' 
rationalist  they  personate  "foolishness."  While  to  the 
arrogant  representatives  of  the  "  beast,"  his  body  became 
a  fit  subject  for  stripes,  imprisonment  and  death.  But  to 
the  scorn  and  malice  of  the  Jew,  to  the  sophistry  and 
worldly  wisdom  of  the  Greek,  to  the  scourge  and  sword 
of  the  Roman,  Paul  made  but  one  answer :  "  None  of 
these  things  move  me ;  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  to  my- 
self, so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy  and  the  min- 
istry which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify 
the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  .  .  .  God  forbid  that 
I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I -unto  the 
world.  Let  no  man  trouble  me ;  I  bear  in  my  body  the 
works  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  And,  whether  confronting  the 
ferocious  mob  in  Jerusalem,  or  disputing  with  the  wily 
disciples  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  in  Athens,  or  answering  for 
himself  before  Agrippa  in  the  court  of  Festus,  or  awaiting 
within  his  prison  walls  in  Rome  the  pleasure  of  the  blood- 
thirsty Nero,  there  was  never  the  semblance  of  a  compro- 


36  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

mise  of  his  high  principles.  The  only  defense  he  ever 
made  before  any  tribunal  was  to  preach  Jesus.  Against 
profane  and  vain  babblings  and  oppositions  of  science, 
.(falsely  so-called),  the  only  argument  he  ever  employed 
was,  "  Christ  Jesus  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption."  He 
had  no  party  sympathies,  he  made  no  political  harangues, 
he  glorified  no  human  governmental  system,  he  rode  no 
sensational  hobbies  merely  to  lead  the  mob.  But  always, 
•everywhere,  for  all  ends,  he  preached  Christ;  himself  the 
servant  of  all  for  Christ's  sake:  proving  and  alleging 
.  that  he  only  is  "  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings,"  and 
that  before  his  judgment  bar  every  one  must  appear,  to 
be  judged  in  the  body  for  the  things  done. 

Indeed,  the  "  whom  we  preach "  of  the  text  but 
epitomizes  the  whole  life  and  labors  of  this  man  of  God. 
Here  was  the  secret  of  his  power.  Hence  sprang 
•those  ever-widening  waves  of  influence  which,  continu- 
ing to  bless  the  Church  and  the  world  throughout  the 
history  of  both,  will  break  only  upon  the  shores  of 
•eternity. 

My  brethren,  where  are  the  Pauls  of  the  nineteenth 
century'?  Where  are  the  builders  who  are  utilizing  the 
foundation  which  he  laid  by  heaping  thereon  gold  and 
silver  and  precious  stones  ?  I  have  no  fear  for  our 
foundation.  The  gates  of  hell  cannot  move  that.  I 
have  neither  time  nor  disposition  to  mind  those  who,  in 
their  vain  pretense  at  building,  discard,  theoretically  or 
practically,  that  foundation.  They  cannot  be  answered 
according  to  their  folly,  else  we  become  like  to  them ; 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  57 

they  cannot  be  answered  otherwise,  else  they  become  wise 
in  their  own  conceits.  Too  much  time  has  thus  been 
wasted  by  good  men,  only  in  making  fools  of  themselves, 
or  in  consummating  the  supreme  folly  of  others.  But, 
oh !  I  do  fear  that  much  of  the  building  that  is  being 
done  to-day  in  the  name  of  our  great  "  Corner-Stone," 
and  that,  too,  with  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  parade 
and  self-gratulation,  is  nothing  more  than  a  miserable 
combination  of  wood  and  hay  and  stubble,  which,  at 
best,  but  serves  to  feed  personal  vanity  here,  and  will  in 
the  end  kindle  the  holocaust  of  a  fruitless  ministerial 
life.  God  deliver  us  from  the  insinuating  strategy  of  the 
devil,  already  too  successful,  by  which  he  persuades  the 
church  and  the  ministry  that  the  ends  of  redemption,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  are  to  be  secured  by  compacts  with 
human  systems  of  philosophy  and  polity.  In  the  name 
of  the  "  Holy  One  "  of  Israel,  and  by  the  authority  of 
his  great  apostle,  I  protest  that  there  is  no  similarity,  no 
congenially,  between  any  of  these  systems  and  our 
beloved  Christianity.  The  sap  that  feeds  the  one  is  a 
deadly  poison  to  the  other.  There  is,  there  can  be,  no 
fellowship  between  light  and  darkness,  no  concord 
between  Christ  and  Belial;  religiously  Christ  is  every- 
thing, else  he  is  nothing.  The  preaching  of  Christ  must 
subdne  all  things  to  him,  else  faith  to  him  is  vanity  and 
labor  for  him  is  naught.  The  process  of  converting  one 
soul  is,  in  miniature,  the  process  of  converting  the  world. 
What  these  witty  inventions  of  men  cannot  do  in  restor- 
ing one  woe-blasted,  sin-wrecked  mariner  to  a  haven  of 
peace,  they  can  never  do  in  bringing  back  the  race  to  its 
5 


58  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

long-lost  moorings.  Christ  in  us  "  the  hope  of  glory,"  in 
our  preaching  "  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of 
God,"  alone  puts  ministerial  success  beyond  contingency. 
We  but  deceive  ourselves  and  lead  others  astray,  mistak- 
ing both  the  genius  of  our  mission  and  the  weapons  of 
our  warfare,  while  we  predicate  success  of  the  mere 
accidents  of  personal  ability,  learning  and  the  so-called 
helps  of  the  age.  The  want  of  these,  in  a  large  class  of 
our  ministry,  is  to-day  being  earnestly  and  extensively 
deprecated  by  both  preachers  and  people,  and  a  large 
and  increasing  share  of  public  attention  is  being  con- 
stantly turned  in  this  direction.  I  could  not  hope  to 
divert  that  attention  if  I  would — I  certainly  would  not  if 
I  could;  but  I  am  profoundly  impressed  that  we  are 
suffering  a  thousandfold  more  from  another  want,  and 
that  the  share  of  attention  -turned  in  that  direction  is 
neither  great  nor  increasing.  Our  faith  in  a  personal, 
present,  reigning  Christ  is  too  weak,  our  zeal  for  that 
Christ  is  too  politic,  our  knowledge  of  that  Christ  is  too 
partial  and  superficial,  to  inspire  us  with  the  courage 
necessary  to  make,  at  all  times,  a  square  issue  with  the 
world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil.  We  mince  the  truth, 
mingle  it  with  soporific  draughts  of  pleasing  error,  and 
play  the  part  of  contemptible  caterers  to  miserably  mor- 
bid appetites. 

We  study  more,  and  make  more  strenuous  efforts  to 
be  "approved"  as  "learned"  by  self-constituted  sa- 
vants, as  "  eloquent "  by  the  proprietors  of  "  itching 
ears,"  as  "  liberal "  and  "  progressive"  by  gaping,  igno- 
rant, fluctuating  mobs,  as  "  loyal "  by  the  votaries  of 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  $9 

that  particular  form  of  the  "  beast "  that  happens  to  be 
dominant,  than  of  God,  as  "  workmen  that  need  not  be 
ashamed."  Oh !  to  see,  to  hear,  to  feel,  the  power  of 
the  Paul,  the  Luther,  the  Knox,  the  Wesley  of  the  nine- 
teenth century ! 

I  notice  but  for  a  moment  Paul's  conception  of  the 
scope  of  gospel  preaching,  "  warning  every  man,  and 
teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom." 

Sin  best  beseems  itself  and  best  bespeaks  its  diabolical 
paternity,  in  that  it  appears  other  than  it  is,  both  in  char- 
acter and  fruits,  to  its  blinded  votaries.  God's  ministers 
are  especially  entrusted  with  two  items  of  warning : 
i  st.  All  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of 
God.  2d.  The  soul  that  sinneth  shall  die;  thus  con- 
cluding in  every  man's  consciousness  his  own  con- 
demnation and  death.  The  final  and  full  success  of 
every  gospel  ministration  depends  largely  upon  its 
power  to  develop,  with  God's  blessing,  clearly  and 
forcibly,  this  consciousness.  Until  this  is  done  the 
teachings  of  the  gospel  go  for  naught.  They  are  but  as 
pearls  before  swine,  hence  no  part  of  ministerial  duty  is 
more  important,  more  imperative  than  this ;  yet  no  part 
is  more  undesirable  to  himself  personally,  no  part  faith- 
fully performed  so  unwelcome  to  his  auditors,  and  no 
part,  I  grieve  to  say,  upon  which  compromise  is  so  often 
made  between  preacher  and  people. 

Few  men  love  to  be  reproved,  rebuked,  warned ;  and, 
though  the  wise  man  tells  us  that  "  open  rebuke  is  bet- 
ter than  secret  love ;  that  faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a 
friend,  but  the  kisses  of  an  enemy  are  deceitful ; "  still, 


60  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

for  the  time  being,  men  generally  prefer  the  latter  to  the 
former ;  and  there  is  no  surer  way  to  incur  most  men's 
displeasure,  to  make  them  your  enemies,  than  by  telling 
them  the  truth  concerning  themselves.  Notwithstand- 
ing this,  he  who  has  a  care  of  souls  has  no  option ;  he 
must  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  he  must  warn 
every  man,  he  must  hear  the  words  at  God's  mouth,  and 
speak  them  to  warn  the  people,  otherwise  blood  will  be 
upon  his  head.  Moreover,  men  are  ready  to  be  taught 
the  things  of  God  only  when  they  have  accepted  God's 
warning.  Then,  too,  we  find  they  are  always  anxious  to 
be  taught  the  things  which  make  for  peace.  It  is  a  pro- 
vision of  infinite  mercy  that  man  is  a  creature  of  education, 
that  his  powers  are  flexible,  and  yield  to  influences  from 
without;  that  he  may  unlearn  what  he  has  learned  amiss, 
and  learn  what  is  transformingly  opposite  in  its  nature. 

This  age  is  not  deficient  in  knowledge,  nor  is  it  a 
stranger  to  the  experience  expressed  in  the  proverb, 
"  knowledge  is  power ;"  but,  like  the  early,  so  the  later 
"  fruit  of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste  brought 
death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe,"  bears  all  the 
marks  of  illegitimacy,  and  is  far  more  potent  for  evil  than 
for  good.  Man's  self-assumed  knowledge  of  religion 
is  evil.  Better  be  an  ignorant  Hottentot  than  a  con- 
ceited, atheistic  Comte.  Man's  pretended  knowledge  of 
science  is  evil.  Better  be  as  stupid  as  a  Chinaman — as 
ignorant  of  the  laws  ot  matter  as  a  South  Sea  Islander, 
than  to  pretentiously  affect  a  wisdom  concerning  any  of 
God's  works  contrary  to  and  contradictory  of  what  he 
has  revealed. 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  OI 

Man's  knowledge  of  political  economy  is  primarily 
and  essentially  full  of  evil.  Better  live  the  life  of  a  Rus- 
sian serf,  or  die  as  ignorant  of  the  science  of  government 
as  a  Congo  slave,  than  assert  and  undertake  to  maintain 
the  "  divine  right "  of  the  "  Beast "  under  any  of  his 
multiplied  forms,  thus  putting  loyalty  to  "  Caesar  "  upon 
a  par  with  loyalty  to  Christ,  and  making  that  virtue 
which  Christ  denounces  as  crime. 

Human  knowledge,  as  such,  I  repeat,  is  full  of  evil. 
It  could  not  be  otherwise,  while  the  immutable  law  holds 
good,  "An  evil  tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit ;  the 
stream  cannot  rise  above  the  fountain ;  the  effect  must  be 
like  the  cause."  Truth,  divine  truth,  such  as  the  gospel 
alone  contains,  such  as  the  true  man  of  God  alone 
preaches,  can  cure  this  evil ;  nothing  else  can.  It  is 
the  duty  and  privilege  of  the  preacher  of  the  cross  to 
teach  truth,  to  teach  it  in  "  all  wisdom."  "  Wisdom," 
says  the  apostle,  not  such  as  the  world  teacheth,  "  but 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth."  Such  teaching  is 
best  accomplished,  not  by  affecting  the  metaphysician 
and  hastening  to  meet  such  dreamers  as  Kant  and  Comte, 
Hegel  and  John  Stewart  Mill,  "  upon  their  own  ground;" 
not  by  following  the  tortuous  trail  of  Darwin  and 
Huxley,  Tyndall  and  Thomson,  that  their  fond  con- 
ceits may  be  exposed  in  detail;  not  by  dabbling  in 
the  muddy  waters  of  political  strife,  championing  this 
set  of  government  notions  or  that ;  nay,  verily,  but  by 
inculcating  the  precepts  and  example  of  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth. "The  wisdom  that  is  from  above,"  the  wis- 
dom which  is  not  a  libel  upon  its  own  name,  "  is  first 


62  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of 
mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  partiality  and  without 
hypocrisy.  "  Let  the  potsherds  of  earth  strive  with 
earth's  potsherds."  The  gospel  furnishes  its  humblest 
minister  with  a  higher  plane  of  thought,  a  more  direct 
path  to  all  truth,  and  a  more  general,  practical  and  effi- 
cient system  of  political  economy.  The  teaching  that 
becomes  the  pulpit,  that  will  correct  all  human  errors, 
that  will  never  grow  obsolete,  and  of  which  Paul's  is  the 
model,  is  on  this  wise  : 

"  Repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness.  All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.  Let  not  the 
wise  man  glory  in  his  wisdom ;  neither  let  the  mighty 
man  glory  in  his  might;  let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in 
his  riches ;  but  let  him  that  glorieth  glory  in  this,  that 
he  understandeth  and  knoweth  me,  sayeth  the  Lord.' 
When  the  pulpit  everywhere  becomes  the  radiator,  and 
the  Church  everywhere  becomes  the  practical  expositor 
of  this  teaching,  then,  and  not  till  then,  may  we  hope  to 
at  least  approximate  those  results  so  long  prayed  for 
by  both. 

I  shall  conclude  with  a  brief  notice  of  the  end  of 
gospel  preaching  :  "  That  we  may  present  every  man 
perfect  in  Christ  Jesus."  An  end  truly  worthy  of  the 
means  employed  to  reach  it. 

What  a  wonderful  history,  what  a  glorious  consumma- 
tion has  the  gospel !  "  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
tasted  death  for  every  man."  The  Holy  Spirit  convinces 


PREACHING  CHRIST.  63 

every  man  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment. 
The  word  teaches  every  man  how  to  flee  the  wrath  to 
come. 

What  a  comment  is  here  upon  the  worth  and  possibili- 
ties of  an  immortal  soul  ! 

"  God,  to  reclaim  it,  did  not  spare 

His  well-beloved  Son ; 
Jesus,  to  save  it,  deigned  to  bear 
The  sins  of  all  in  one. 

"  The  Holy  Spirit  sealed  the  plan, 

And  pledged  the  blood  divine 

To  ransom  every  soul  of  man — 

That  price  was  paid  for  mine. 

"  And  is  this  treasure  borne  below 

In  earthen  vessels  frail  ? 
Can  none  its  utmost  value  know, 
Till  flesh  and  spirit  fail  ? 

"  Then  let  us  gather  round  the  cross, 

That  knowledge  to  obtain  ; 
Not  by  the  soul's  eternal  loss, 
But  everlasting  gain." 

The  blood,  the  spirit,  the  word  of  Christ  can  make 
every  man  perfect.  "Thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeak- 
able gift ; "  and  "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  that  he  has  ever  counted  any  "  worm 
of  the  dust  "  worthy  the  high  privilege  of  presenting  this 
gift  to  his  fellow  sinners,  with  the  glad  hope  of  finally 
presenting  them,  and  of  being  presented  with  them, 
before  the  throne  of  the  Father,  "  perfect  in  Christ 
Jesus." 


64  PREACHING  CHRIST. 

My  brethren;  it  is  true — I  feel  it,  I  know  it — the  hum- 
blest preacher  of  the  gospel  is  greater  than  the  mightiest 
monarch  of  earth.  Because  He  whose  word  is  the 
immutable  law  of  heaven  and  earth  has  said,  "  he  that 
converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  ways  shall  save 
a  soul  from  death  and  shall  hide  a  multitude  of  sins." 
Earth's  mightiest  achievement  is  as  child's  play  to  this. 
It  may  not  seem  so  now,  but,  my  hearers,  the  dawn  ot 
the  day  is  hastening,  in  the  light  of  which  God  will  fully 
vindicate  the  wisdom  of  those  who  count  all  things  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ — when 
"  they  that  be  teachers  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of 
the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness 
as  the  stars  forever  and  ever."  And  now,  "  unto  him 
that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own 
blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and 
his  Father,  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever  and 
ever.  Amen." 


IV. 

THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST,  THEN  AND  NOW ; 
BEFORE  PILATE  AND  YOU. 

BY  REV.  W.  M.  PROTTSMAN, 
Of  the    West  St.   Louis   Conference. 


"  Knowest  thou  not  that  I  have  power  to  crucify  thee,  and  have 
power  to  release  thee?  " — JOHN  xix.  10. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  the  trial  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  five  points  of  his  defence  by  Pilate 
himself.  We  may  well  pause  and  examine  ourselves 
when  we  find  in  the  very  crucifier  of  Jesus  his  own  advo- 
cate. 

What  is  our  relation  to  Christ  ?  is  the  question  of  most 
importance.  Are  we  his  advocates  ?  Ah !  and  are  we 
also  his  crucifiers  ?  Do  we  gather  with  him  ?  Do  we 
scatter  abroad,  or  do  we  both  ?  True,  indeed,  we  can- 
not serve  God  and  mammon,  but  we  think  we  can.  A 
careful  review  of  the  trial  of  Christ  will  reveal  the  fact 
that  it  is  still  going  on ;  that  Pilate  has  his  representative 
in  every  one  to  whom  Christ  Jesus  is  preached ;  that, 
like  Pilate,  all  who  hear  the  words  of  salvation  virtually 
preside  at  the  trial  and  sit  in  judgment,  and  render  their 
decision  for  or  against  the  Savior.  In  short,  all,  like 
Pilate,  must  hang  their  sins  or  their  Savior  on  the  cross. 
These  important  facts  we  learn  from  certain  laws  of  our 


66  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

nature  and  from  the  history  of  the  trial.  We  can  but 
only  glance  at  these  certain  laws  of  our  nature,  which 
seem  to  necessitate  a  decision  on  the  important  question 
of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ.  Wherever  there  is  author- 
ity there  is  a  corresponding  responsibility.  Office, 
whether  municipal  or  otherwise,  confers  authority,  and 
this  includes  responsibility;  and  as  is  the  degree  of 
authority  so  is  the  responsibility.  The  accident  of  office 
enters  not  into  the  law  of  man's  life,  except  as  it  may 
increase  the  degree  of  his  obligations  to  his  fellow-man — 
obligations  which  are  based  upon  relations  and  princi- 
ples not  quite  as  uncertain  as  office. 

The  highest  authority  on  earth  is  the  breath  of  life : 
"  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life, 
and  man  became  a  living  soul."  All  office,  whether  in 
Church  or  State,  is  simply  when  he  takes  the  servant's 
place.  On  his  individuality  hangs  his  responsibility; 
and  in  regard  to  his  salvation  this  includes  the  necessity 
of  decision.  So  perfect  is  the  great  plan  of  human 
redemption  in  its  adaptation  to  all  the  wants  of  man, 
and  to  all  the  laws  of  his  moral  constitution,  that  he  may 
reject  it,  he  may  despise  it,  but  accept  or  reject  it  he 
must — on  the  cross  he  must  hang  his  sins  or  his  Savior. 
This  necessity  of  decision  is  plainly  seen  in  the  repeated 
attempts  of  Pilate  to  evade  the  trial  of  Christ  and  throw 
off  his  responsibility  in  the  matter.  "  A  double-minded 
man "  he  was,  "  unstable  in  all  his  ways,"  constantly 
alternating  between  hope  and  fear,  duty  and  self-interest. 
But,  notwithstanding  his  evasions,  the  unseen  hand  of 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  67 

necessity  would  press  the  case  upon  him,  as  if  determined 
to  coerce  the  decision  for  or  against.  That  trial  has  not 
ceased,  and  will  not  till  the  last  man  for  whom  Christ 
died  shall  have  accepted  or  rejected  him.  Every  hour 
men  are  receiving  or  rejecting  him ;  and  we  fear  many 
are  "crucifying  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh, 
and  putting  him  to  an  open  shame."  Bringing  Christ, 
the  prisoner,  unto  Pilate's  judgment  hall,  it  is  said  "  they 
themselves  went  not  into  the  hall,  lest  they  should  be 
denied."  They  were  already  denied  with  the  blood  of 
innocence,  for  they  had  pronounced  the  sentence  of 
death  upon  him.  The  high-priest  had  said  to  the  coun- 
cil, "  what  further  need  have  we  of  witnesses :  what 
think  ye  ?  And  they  answered,  He  is  guilty  of  death." 
The  malignant  piety  of  these  self-righteous  members  of 
the  Sanhedrim,  which  feared  pollution  from  the  touch  of 
a  heathen,  may  well  suggest  in  us  an  examination  for 
that  true  humility  wherein  Christ  is  glorified  on  earth. 
This  standing  aloof  through  fear  of  contamination  has 
become  so  common  that  it  is  claiming  divine  right  from 
its  age  and  respectability.  It  were  certainly  more  to  its 
credit  to  claim  respectability  from  divine  right. 

Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  and  should  the  salt  stand 
aloof  from  the  flesh  lest  it  be  corrupted  ?  Ye  are  the 
light  of  the  world ;  and  shall  the  light  stand  aloof  from 
darkness  lest  it  be  obscured  ? 

These  chief  priests  and  elders,  it  would  seem,  had  one  • 
virtue  left — that  of  decision,  and  this  they  used  speedily, 
and  that  to  condemn.     So  far,  however,  as  the  execution 
of  their  own  sentence  is  concerned,  they  seem  to  hesi- 


68  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

tate,  or,  perhaps,  seek  to  involve  the  Roman  government 
in  their  guilt.  They  said,  "  It  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  put 
any  man  to  death."  But  they  had  the  power  of  life  and 
death,  and  made  use  of  it  about  a  year  afterward  in  the 
case  of  Stephen.  But  they  desired  the  concurrence  of 
the  Roman  governor  that  they  might  make  our  Savior 
undergo  a  more  severe  and  ignominious  punishment 
than  they  could  have  inflicted  upon  him  by  their  own 
power,  because  crucifixion  was  a  death  unknown  to  their 
law.  For  this  purpose,  and  to  induce  the  governor  to 
comply  with  their  demand,  the  accusation  which  they 
brought  against  him  was  of  a  civil  nature,  and  such  as 
would  consign  him  to  the  punishment  they  desired  : 
"  We  found  this  fellow  perverting  the  nation,  and  forbid- 
ding to  give  tribute  to  Caesar."  Pilate's  previous  bad 
character  led  them  to  presume  on  the  immediate  fulfill- 
ment of  their  desires.  But  how  surprised  must  they  have 
been  when  the  stern  judge  demanded,  "  What  accusation 
do  you  bring  against  this  man  ?  "  Could  an  advocate  of 
Christ  put  his  claims,  his  gospel,  or  any  part  of  the  great 
plan  of  salvation  before  an  unbelieving  world  in  a  more 
proper  form  than  this  question  of  Pilate  ?  What  accu- 
sation do  you  bring  against  his  religion,  against  his  doc- 
trines, against  his  principles  of  human  government, 
against  the  only  condition  of  salvation — faith  in  him  as 
the  Son  of  the  living  God  and  your  Savior  ?  Are  you 
silent  ?  Do  you  bring  no  accusation,  not  even  against 
his  divinity  ?  Then  why  not  embrace  him  ?  If  you 
have  one  interest  paramount  to  all  others,  it  is  the  salva- 
tion of  your  soul,  and  this  is  surely  the  last  thing  that 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  69 

should  remain  undetermined.  Whatever  else  may  be 
undecided,  this  should  be  settled,  and  must  be.  You 
have  power  to  crucify  and  power  to  release  him ;  sooner 
or  later  the  choice  must  be  made.  If  it  involve  sacrifice, 
better  your  health  suffer  than  your  soul  die ;  better  be 
bankrupt  than  be  damned ;  better  suffer  with  him  here 
than  reign  with  his  enemies  hereafter;  better  let  men 
kill  the  body  than  fall  unprepared  into  the  hands  of  that 
God  who  can  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell. 

The  answer  of  Christ's  accusers  to  the  inquiry  of  the 
judge  is  the  expression  of  infidelity  everywhere  :  "  If  he 
were  not  a  malefactor  we  would  not  have  delivered  him 
unto  thee."  Men  who  will  not  take  upon  themselves 
the  trouble  "of  searching  diligently  for  the  truth  amidst 
the  various  contending  claims,  jump  to  their  conclusions, 
and  often  find  that  hasty  conclusions  are  enduring  errors. 
From  the  well-known  character  of  Pilate  no  one  sup- 
posed he  would  hesitate  in  giving  judgment  against  the 
prisoner  ;  therefore,  his  accusers  were  wholly  unprepared, 
and  even  confounded,  when  he  manifested  a  disposition 
to  deal  justly,  and  called  for  evidence  of  the  guilt  of  the 
accused.  In  their  confusion  they  manufacture  testi- 
mony, and,  as  is  often  the  case,  overreach  themselves  in 
the  matter.  They  charge  the  prisoner  with  "  sedition," 
beginning  at  Galilee.  They  are  snared  in  their  own 
falsehood,  in  that  Galilee  was  not  in  the  jurisdiction  of 
Pilate,  but  in  that  of  Herod.  Pilate  now  saw  his  oppor- 
tunity, as  he  supposed,  to  evade  the  trial  and  escape  a 
decision  that  might  involve  serious  consequences.  He 
at  once  dismissed  the  whole  matter  from  his  court  by 


70  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

sending  all  to  Herod.  Whatever  his  convictions  of  duty, 
justice,  and  his  responsibities  in  the  matter,  he  now  felt 
that  he  was  relieved  of  them  all.  Whatever  should  be 
the  fate  of  the  prisoner,  or  of  the  cause  of  truth  in  his 
case,  were  of  little  consequence  compared  with  his  own 
safety. 

Pilate  has  never  wanted  for  representatives  in  this 
watchful  care  of  himself  and  manifest  disposition  to 
evade  a  decision  on  the  trial  of  Christ.  When  the 
claims  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  have  been  before 
you,  his  name  offered  you  as  the  only  plea  under  heaven 
whereby  you  can  be  saved,  his  blood  the  only  means  of 
being  cleansed  from  all  sin,  like  Pilate,  you  send  the 
cause  of  Christ  away.  When  the  gospel  points  to  your 
.ambition  endangering  your  soul,  your  love  of  gain 
estranging  you  from  God,  your  pride  lifting  you  above 
God,  your  strong  passions,  your  unholy  companions, 
your  loose  and  unsettled  principles,  your  skeptical 
thoughts,  your  love  of  self,  your  exposure  to  death,  and 
all  endangering  your  salvation,  and  you  are  urged  to  a 
decision  in  favor  of  Jesus  Christ,  you  turn  the  whole 
matter  over  to  your  neighbor.  Be  not  deceived;  you 
have  not  found  rest  when  you  expected  it ;  an  evasion 
is  not  a  decision ;  the  case  will  come  back  to  you  as  it 
came  to  Pilate.  How  exceedingly  cautious  we  should 
be  in  guarding  against  the  insinuations  of  self  in  religious 
matters.  Pilate  had  mingled  the  blood  of  some  Gali- 
leans with  the  sacrifices  at  the  time  of  the  Passover  at 
Jerusalem,  which  act  Herod  had  resented  as  an  indignity 
put  upon  him  and  an  invasion  of  his  authority.  As  a 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  71 

question  of  state,  this  act  was  operating  to  the  prejudice 
of  Pilate,  and  at  the  mention  of  Galilee  he  saw  not  only, 
as  he  supposed,  an  opportunity  to  evade  a  troublesome 
case,  but  a  chance  to  restore  himself  to  favor  with  Herod, 
and  immediately  turned  Jesus  Christ  to  his  own  personal 
account  by  sending  him  to  Herod. 

Herod's  examination  was  only  a  personal  affair,  for  he 
feared  that  Jesus  Christ  was  John  the  Baptist  risen  from 
the  dead.  His  fears  quieted  on  the  subject  of  his  murder 
of  John,  he  sends  the  prisoner  back  to  Pilate.  Pilate 
said  he  had  power  to  crucify  him  and  power  to  release 
him.  So  he  had,  and  he  must  use  it.  What  is  all  power 
but  a  name,  if  it  be  not  exercised.  His  subterfuge 
failed;  the  case  is  before  him  again.  Pilate  now 
addressed  himself  to  the  priests  and  rulers  of  the  people, 
telling  them  that,  though  they  had  brought  this  man 
before  him  as  a  seditious  person  and  a  seducer  of  the 
people,  yet,  upon  examination,  he  could  not  find  him 
guilty  of  any  of  the  crimes.  In  short,  he  told  them  that 
he  "  found  no  fault  in  him,"  and  bade  them  take  him  and 
judge  him  according  to  their  own  law.  They  cried  out 
that  it  was  not  lawful  for  them  to  put  any  man  to  death, 
and  that  Jesus  ought  to  die  because  he  made  himself  the 
Son  of  God. 

This  effort  of  Pilate  to  rid  himself  of  the  case  by  pro- 
posing to  send  it  to  an  ecclesiastical  court  having  failed, 
he  addressed  himself  more  seriously  to  the  consideration 
of  the  matter.  These  last  words,  "  he  made  himself  the 
Son  of  God,"  no  doubt  gave  Pilate  great  uneasiness,  for, 
taking  them  in  such  a  sense  as  a  heathen  might  well  put 


72  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

upon  them,  he  feared  that  if  he  gave  sentence  against 
him,  he  might  destroy  not  only  an  innocent  person,  but 
possibly  some  hero  or  mighty  demi-god,  and  so  at  once 
commit  both  an  act  of  injustice  and  impiety.  Therefore, 
taking  Jesus  to  the  judgment  seat  he  inquired,  "Whence 
art  thou  ?  "  It  being  no  part  of  our  Saviour's  intention 
to  escape  death,  he  said  nothing  in  his  own  justification. 
When  Pilate  inquired  of  Christ  concerning  his  title  as 
king  of  the  Jews,  he  informed  him  that  "  his  kingdom 
was  not  of  this  world,"  therefore  it  had  nothing  to  do  with 
men's  temporal  interests  or  privileges ;  it  left  rulers  and 
subjects  in  the  same  condition  it  found  them,  and,  there- 
fore, no  object  of  jealousy  to  any  government.  In  short, 
his  kingdom  was  not  of  a  secular  nature,  but  related 
wholly  to  spiritual  and  heavenly  things,  and  would  be 
supported  entirely  by  spiritual  sanctions  and  authority. 

Perceiving  a  disposition  in  the  govenor  to  release  the 
prisoner,  the  Jews  made  a  direct  appeal  to  his  fears  by 
crying  out,  "  If  thou  let  this  man  go  thou  art  not  Casar's 
friend."  A  powerful  menace,  indeed,  for  one  who  knew 
the  jealous  temper  of  his  master  Tiberius,  and  how  a 
wrong  representation  of  the  proceedings  might  prove  his 
ruin.  Observe  how  seriously  Pilate  comes  to  the  judg- 
ment seat  when  this  cry  from  Satan's  kingdom  falls  on  his 
ear.  His  office  and  his  salvation  both  confront  him  now. 
And  never  did  he  see  anything  clearer  than  he  now  saw 
his  power  to  crucify  and  to  release.  And  these  powers 
became  conflicting  claims  that  pressed  upon  him  like  the 
hand  of  necessity. 

You   are   no   stranger  to   his   situation.      The  king- 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  73 

dom  of  Christ  has  been  unfolded  to  you;  its  nature 
explained;  its  government  set  forth;  the  conditions  oi 
salvation  presented;  and  pardon  offered  on  the  plain 
and  easy  terms  of  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You 
have  been  admonished  of  the  allurements  of  the  world ;  of 
the  arts  of  a  cunning  and  subtle  foe ;  of  the  deceitfulness 
of  your  own  hearts,  and  of  the  propensity  to  delay — all 
endangering  your  salvation.  The  shortness  of  time,  the 
certainty  of  death,  the  error  of  procrastination  and  the 
danger  of  delay  have  been  faithfully  presented  to  you. 
The  fullness  and  the  freeness  of  the  grace  of  God  have 
been  shown  you,  and  all  offered  you  on  the  easy  terms 
of  acceptance.  Jesus  Christ  has  been  presented  to  you 
as  your  Saviour,  who  suffered  death  upon  the  cross  for 
your  redemption — who  made  then  full  satisfaction  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.  And  you  have  been  urged, 
begged,  pleaded  by  all  the  interests  of  your  immortal 
soul  to  accept  him  as  your  Redeemer.  In  the  matter 
ot  conscious  convictions  your  case  and  that  of  Pilate  are 
similar.  The  sense  of  right,  of  justice,  of  duty,  by  the 
silent  force  of  conviction,  pressed  heavily  upon  him. 
And  your  own  consciousness  now  carries  the  impressions 
of  your  convictions  of  the  same  character.  But  "if  thou 
let  this  man  go  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend."  If  you 
acquit  Jesus  Christ  of  the  charges  which  infidelity  brings 
against  him  you  are  no  friend  of  the  world.  The  world 
now  puts  in  its  claims.  All  that  can  please  the  ear,  the 
fancy,  the  passions,  the  lust  of  the  heart  or  the  pride 
of  life,  now  pass  in  inviting  review.  Ambition,  avarice, 

worldly  honor   and   fame,  all  appeal  to  the  depraved 
6 


74  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

feelings  and  desires  of  a  nature  always  bent  on  ruin. 
The  restraints  which  virtue  and  true  religion  impose  are 
now  held  up  to  view  in  most  unfavorable  light.  Religion 
is  presented  to  you  as  a  most  unreasonable  restraint 
upon  the  pleasures  of  life.  Burdens  to  be  borne,  crosses 
to  be  taken  up,  and  uneasy  yokes  to  be  worn,  are  held 
up  as  the  sum  and  substance  of  Christianity.  Sin  is  clad 
in  her  beautiful  robes,  and  all  that  is  fascinating  on  earth 
is  presented  to  you ;  and  then  the  generous  offer  made, 
"  All  these  things  will  I  give  thee  if  thou  wilt  fall  down 
and  worship  me." 

Such  was  the  pressure  now  brought  to  bear  upon 
Pilate  that  his  weak  nature  would,  perhaps,  have  imme- 
diately yielded,  and  his  power  to  crucify  been  exercised 
in  his  decision.  Surely  the  moral  government  of  God 
shall  be  fully  vindicated  at  his  judgment  bar.  It  will 
then  appear  that  not  only  are  all  men  endowed  with 
power  to  crucify  and  power  to  release,  but  that  God,  in 
his  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  bestows  all  needed  grace 
and  truth  to  bring  us  to  the  knowledge  of  salvation. 
When  the  pressure  of  the  menace,  "thou  art  not  Caesar's 
friend,"  was  about  to  compel  Pilate  to  condemn  the 
prisoner,  against  his  convictions  oi  justice,  a  most  power- 
ful reminder  of  the  momentous  consequences  of  an 
unjust  decision,  and  of  his  sworn  obligation  to  do  right, 
confronted  him  in  the  message  of  his  wife,  "  Have  thou 
nothing  to  do  with  that  just  man,  for  I  have  suffered 
many  things  this  day  in  a  dream  because  of  him." 
Strong  indeed  must  be  the  power  of  resistance  to  the 
truth  when  the  unmistakable  force  of  inspiration  alone 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  75 

can  bring  conviction.  This  dream,  which  was  providen- 
tially sent  upon  Pilate's  wife  for  the  clearer  manifestation 
of  our  Lord's  innocence,  must  have  removed  every 
remaining  doubt  from  Pilate's  mind. 

To  know  the  right  is  not  always  to  do  it.  The  truth 
alone  is  not  sufficient  to  lead  the  heart  from  sin  to  holi- 
ness. Nothing  is  more  common  than  for  the  human 
mind  to  turn  its  back  upon  a  truth,  firmly  believed  to 
be  from  God,  deeply  felt  to  carry  eternal  hopes,  but 
demanding  the  sacrifice  of  present  gratifications,  or  of 
the  friendship  of  the  world.  Mere  conviction  never 
carries  a  point  of  practical  moral  conduct.  With  every 
evidence  given  of  the  innocence  of  the  prisoner  that  the 
skeptical  mind  could  ask,  and  given  in  a  manner  not 
even  admitting  of  doubt,  by  inspiration,  by  the  hand  of 
a  wife,  Pilate  still  sees  self,  and  self  only.  Having  the 
power  to  release,  and  the  full,  clear  and  distinct  con- 
viction that  he  ought  to  release,  he  sets  himself  to  work 
to  find  another  expedient  to  evade  a  decision,  save  the 
prisoner  from  death,  and,  what  was  of  far  more  impor- 
tance to  him,  save  himself  in  the  eye  of  Csesar. 

How  true  it  is  that  all  men  seek  first  their  worldly 
prosperity.  They  know  nothing  equal  to  that.  Every- 
thing is  made  to  give  way  to  it.  The  cause  of  Christ 
must  wait  for  that  and  is  only  held  secondary  to  it. 
This  desire  to  subordinate  all  things  to  self  is  a  pit  into 
which  those  who  dig  it  often  fall  themselves.  It  was 
sadly  and  fatally  so  in  the  case  of  Pilate.  For  popular 
favor  he  himself  instituted  the  custom  of  pardoning  one 
condemned  criminal  at  every  Passover,  whom  the  Jews 


76  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

should  nominate.  The  feast  of  the  Passover  was  cele- 
brated by  the  Jews  in  memory  of  their  deliverance  from 
Egyptian  bondage.  So  shrewd  a  politician  as  Pontius 
Pilate  soon  saw  how  very  agreeable  to  the  nature  of  that 
feast  would  be  the  deliverance  from  bondage  of  a  crimi- 
nal at  the  time  of  its  celebration.  But  however  much 
of  favor  or  compliment  he  pretended  to  the  Jews,  he 
meant  it  only  as  a  matter  of  popularity  for  himself;  and 
now,  when  the  clear  conviction  of  the  iniquity  of  the 
persecutors  of  Jesus  came  upon  him,  and  the  innocence 
of  the  accused  was  made  manifest  to  him,  and  truth, 
justice  and  conscience  all  demanded  the  release  of  the 
prisoner,  but  self-interest  cried,  "  If  thou  let  this  man  go 
thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend,"  he  thought  of  the  "  cus- 
tom," and  seized  upon  it  as  a  subterfuge  to  save  himself 
and  carry  his  prisoner  away  with  him.  Here  was  Pil- 
ate's fatal  error.  At  every  stage  of  the  trial  some  strong 
and  sure  conviction  would  seize  him  of  the  innocence  of 
his  prisoner,  but  every  conviction  was  immediately  met 
by  some  appeal  to  his  pride,  lusts  or  worldly  desires. 
And  thus  his  self-interest,  leading  his  indecision,  kept 
him  vacillating  between  a  clear  conviction  of  duty  and 
the  hope  of  safety  by  a  course  of  conduct  manifestly 
wrong.  The  unseen  danger  is  often  the  most  fatal  dan- 
ger. Pilate's  fall  was  just  before  him,  and  yet  he  saw  it 
not.  The  Jews  asked  only  condemnation  at  the  hands 
of  Pilate;  the  execution  of  the  sentence  was  an  easy 
matter.  The  very  offer  of  Pilate  to  release  the  prisoner 
by  pardon  presupposed  condemnation.  Who  ever  heard 
of  pardon  for  one  on  trial  and  uncondemned  ?  This  was 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  77 

but  adding  insult  to  injury.  The  Jews  saw  Pilate's  mistake, 
saw  their  opportunity,  seized  upon  it  and  cried,  "  Not 
this  man,  but  Barabbas."  Pilate  now  saw  his  error,  but 
saw  it  too  late — saw  that  in  his  weak,  time-serving  effort 
to  save  the  prisoner  he  had  condemned  him. 

The  cry  of  the  mob,  "  crucify  him !  crucify  him !  " 
startled  him  to  a  consciousness  of  his  fatal  error.  When 
Pilate  saw  that  he  could  prevail  nothing,  but  that  rather 
a  tumult  was  made,  he  took  water  and  washed  his  hands 
before  the  multitude,  saying,  "  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood 
of  this  just  person."  A  basin  of  water  to  wash  the  blood 
of  innocence  from  his  guilty  hands  !  Not  all  the  waters 
of  Neptune's  great  oceans  or  Noah's  greater  flood  could 
wash  that  blood  from  his  guilty  soul ! 

Look  now  at  the  result  of  indecision — of  trifling  with 
the  most  sacred  truths,  and  stifling  the  deepest  con- 
victions. With  you  this  trial  must  end.  You  are  in- 
vested with  a  responsibility  that  absolutely  necessitates 
the  decision  to  crucify  or  release  the  Lord  of  life.  You 
have  been  hesitating  and  doubting;  undetermined  whether 
to  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord  of  all  and  Savior 
of  the  world,  or  whether  to  bow  down  to  the  god  of 
this  world.  You  hold  to  the  world  because  it  imposes 
no  restraints;  the  way  to  office,  fame  and  wealth 
depends  upon  conformity  to  it,  and  great  license  is  given 
to  the  indulgence  of  corrupt  passions.  On  the  other 
hand,  you  have  the  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  conviction  of  conscience  that  his 
religion  is  pure  and  holy.  Vacillating  between  these 
conflicting  claims,  you  present  the  sad  spectacle  of  pat- 


78  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

ronizing  all  systems  and  embracing  none — looking 
with  equal  complacency  on  antagonistic  religions,  pro- 
fessing liberality  to  all,  and  manifesting  preference  for 
none.  You  look  at  the  cross  of  Christ  and  see  around 
it  all  the  happy  effects  which  it  produces.  You  hear 
all  the  arguments  from  miracle  and  prophecy  in  its  favor, 
and  all  the  offers  which  it  makes  of  an  eternal  heaven ; 
you  are  thrilled  with  the  hope  of  the  joys  it  offers,  and  yet 
you  will  not  let  go  of  the  world  long  enough  to  embrace 
it.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  all  the  influence  of  pride  of 
heart  and  the  love  of  fancied  liberty,  all  the  power  of 
corrupting  passion  and  the  desire  of  indulgence  in  sin, 
prompting  you  to  cast  off  the  restraints  of  religion, 
crowd  upon  you,  fill  your  mind  and  consume  your  time, 
and  yet  you  will  not  entirely  close  your  eye  to  the  cross 
of  Christ.  Standing  on  what  you  term  neutral  ground, 
you  are  in  reality  at  the  farthest  point  from  Jesus  Christ. 
There  is  no  art  which  Satan  practices  that  evinces  more 
skill  and  cunning  than  in  retaining  such  persons  on  what 
is  deemed  neutral  ground,  and  in  preventing,  by  a  thous- 
and pleas,  their  giving  their  names  and  their  influence  to 
the  cause  of  true  religion. 

Now,  what  is  before  you  ?  Your  sins,  your  Savior 
and  the  cross.  You  have  the  power  to  crucify,  and  you 
have  the  power  to  release.  On  the  cross  you  must  hang 
your  sins  or  your  Savior  !  Thus  far  you  follow  the  track 
and  example  of  Pilate  with  great  precision.  Shall  his 
error  and  final  decision  be  yours  ?  There  is  nothing  in 
the  question  which  you  are  called  upon  to  decide  to 
warrant  your  indecision.  It  is  simply  for  or  against ; 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  79 

but  between  the  two  there  is  no  place  to  rest  the  sole  of 
your  foot  or  the  soul  of  your  immortal  being.  The 
simple  question  is,  whether  you  will  depend  on  Jesus 
Christ  for  salvation  or  not,  for  you  cannot  depend  on 
him  and  on  yourself.  Whether  you  will  forsake  your 
sins  or  not,  for  you  cannot  be  saved  while  you  cleave  to 
them.  Whether  you  will  live  to  God  or  to  yourself,  for 
you  cannot  do  both.  Whether  you  shall  love  Christ  or 
crucify  him !  Even  to  entertain  this  question  is  deeply 
sinful ;  and  on  such  a  question  as  this  you  hesitate  and 
are  in  doubt.  Truly  a  most  alarming  itate.  You  hesi- 
tate not  in  your  heart  to  crucify ;  you  hesitate  only  in  the 
act.  By  every  principle  of  the  law  of  God  you  are 
already  condemned. 

The  law  of  God  does  not  rest  the  offence  in  the  de- 
gree, but  in  the  spirit ;  and  establishes  it  not  by  evidence 
of  fact,  but  by  evidence  of  conscience  anterior  to  fact. 
It  is  in  the  state  of  vindictiveness  in  the  soul,  and  not  in 
the  thousand  vindictive  acts,  that  God  sees  the  sins ;  and 
in  the  state  of  wantonness  in  the  soul,  and  not  in  the 
thousand  impure  acts — in  these  first  conceptions  of  evil 
God  finds  the  criminality.  In  the  sight  of  heaven  crime 
is  perpetrated  long  ere  it  proclaims  itself  in  the  act.  The 
law  is,  therefore,  addressed  to  the  spirit,  from  which  noth- 
ing is  hid  of  its  own  designs  or  transactions,  of  which 
designs  not  the  thousandth  part  ever  sees  the  light.  So 
that  God's  laws,  though  a  thousand  times  less  numerous, 
apply  to  a  thousand  times  more  cases  than  the  laws  of 
man.  Seeing,  then,  that  into  the  secret  place  of  the  heart 


8o  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

nothing  penetrates  but  conscience  and  the  eye  of  God, 
these  two  alone  can  arbitrate  the  matter. 

In  conclusion,  we  ask,  will  you  ever  be  in  circum- 
stances more  favorable  for  a  decision  than  the  present 
time  ?  Have  you  the  least  ground  of  hope  that  if  you 
evade  a  decision  just  now,  the  case  will  not  soon  come  back 
to  you  again  ?  You  have  all  the  revelation  that  can  ever 
shed  light  on  your  path,  all  that  will  ever  be  given  you 
to  aid  you  in  coming  to  a  decision.  On  every  question 
of  this  character  raised  by  Pilate,  Jesus  Christ  was  silent. 
The  evidence  before  him  was  as  full  and  complete  as  the 
wants  of  Pilate  and  the  full  vindication  of  the  moral 
government  of  God  could  demand.  The  word  of  life 
is  in  your  dwellings  and  in  your  hands ;  the  lamp  of  sal- 
vation shines  on  your  way.  There  will  be  no  new 
prophet  sent  into  the  world ;  no  Pilate's  wife  more  potent 
than  the  "still  small  voice"  that  has  so  often  said,  "  have 
thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  just  man."  The  present  is 
the  only  time  which  you  may  have  to  decide  this  matter. 
To-morrow  may  find  you  in  another  world.  Your  long 
delay,  your  hesitancy  and  your  indecision  may  provoke 
the  Almighty  to  come  forth  in  judgment,  and  cut  you 
down  as  a  cumberer  of  the  ground. 

And  now  we  bring  our  closing  appeal  to  your  decision, 
in  behalf  of  the  Divine  clothed  in  the  raiment  of  the 
flesh.  He  puts  on  your  own  nature  that  he  may  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  your  infirmities.  He  opens 
up  the  heart  of  God,  and  shows  its  boundless  tenderness 
to  his  fallen  creatures.  He  opens  up  his  own  heart, 
and  shows  it  devoted  to  death  for  your  life.  He  opens 


THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST.  81 

his  lips,  and  loving-kindness  drops  upon  your  bitter 
hatred.  He  stills  the  elements  above  your  head  and 
makes  your  stormy  heart  a  calm.  Your  mourning  he 
turns  to  joy,  and  brings  you  hope  from  beyond  the 
grave. 

"  This  is  the  stone  which  was  set  at  naught  of  you 
builders,  which  is  become  the  head  of  the  corner. 
Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other ;  for  there  is  none 
other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved." 

There  is  a  time,  you  know  not  when, 

A  point,  you  know  not  where, 
That  marks  the  destiny  of  men 

To  glory  or  despair. 

There  is  a  time,  by  you  unseen, 

That  crosses  every  path — 
The  hidden  boundary  between, 

God's  patience  and  his  wrath. 

O,  where  is  this  mysterious  bourne 

By  which  your  path  is  crossed, 
Beyond  which  God  himself  hath  sworn 

That  he  who  goes  is  lost  ? 

An  answer  from  the  skies  is  sent  — 

Ye  that  from  God  depart, 
While  it  is  called  to-day,  repent, 

And  harden  not  your  heart ! 


V. 
THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

BY  REV.  H.  A.  BOURLAND, 
Of  the   Missouri    Conference. 


"The  king's  daughter  is  all  glorious  within:  her  clothing  is  of 
wrought  gold.  She  shall  be  brought  unto  the  king  in  raiment  of 
needlework :  the  virgins,  her  companions  that  follow  her,  shall  be 
brought  unto  thee." — PSALM  xlv.  13,  14. 

This  prophetic  song  celebrates  the  relation  between 
Christ  and  his  Church.  There  is  a  magnificence  of  dic- 
tion and  wealth  of  poetic  imagery  befitting  so  high  a 
theme.  The  King  of  Glory  is  the  royal  bridegroom  who 
is  portrayed  as  leading  the  Church,  the  chaste  bride,  to 
the  sacred  nuptials.  The  dignity  of  Godhood  is  blended 
with  the  condescension  of  the  man,  Christ  Jesus,  in  these 
epithalmic  strains  :  "  Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O 
most  mighty,  with  thy  glory  and  thy  majesty.  And  in 
thy  majesty  ride  prosperously,  because  of  truth  and  meek- 
ness and  righteousness,  and  thy  right  hand  shall  teach 
thee  terrible  things."  As  the  glory  of  the  Church  is  so 
associated  with  the  glory  of  her  Lord,  the  supreme  deity 
of  Christ  is  stated  in  the  strongest  terms.  "  Thy  throne, 
O  God.  is  forever  and  ever.  The  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom 
is  a  right  sceptre."  The  Elohim  here  seated  upon  a 
throne  to  endure  forever,  and  swaying  a  sceptre  of  uni- 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  83 

versal  dominion,  is  the  same  who  in  the  beginning 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  If  there  could  be  any 
doubt  of  the  Messianic  character  of  this,  psalm,  it  would 
be  set  at  rest  by  the  use  made  of  this  verse  by  the  Apos- 
tle, (Heb.  i.  8,)  who  applies  it  to  Christ. 

Heaven  had  but  one  purpose  in  view  in  the  incarna- 
tion, teachings,  death  and  resurrection  of  the  Son  of 
God.  That  sublime  purpose,  pre-arranged  in  the  counsels 
of  eternity,  foreshadowed  in  the  sacrifices  of  slain  victims, 
and  typified  in  the  purifications  of  the  temple,  was  to 
wash  away  the  stains  of  sin.  Christ  came  to  earth  to 
seek  and  espouse  a  pure  Church — "  a  glorious  Church, 
not  having  spot  or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing,  but  that  it 
should  be  holy  and  without  blemish."  The  text  is  a 
prophecy  which  is  but  partially  fulfilled.  The  full  realiza- 
tion of  the  ideal  Church  is  still  reserved  for  the  future, 
when  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd,  and  a 
pure  language  shall  be  turned  upon  Zion.  The  Church 
is  coeval  with  the  fall,  and  has  gradually  expanded  with 
the  lapse  of  ages.  The  world  has  never  been  without  a 
divine  revelation,  and  to  make  this  revelation  of  the  will 
of  God  known  to  all  there  have  always  been  some 
divinely  called  and  commissioned.  Thus,  from  Abel  to 
Noah,  and  from  Noah  to  Moses,  and  onward  through 
the  prophets,  God  has  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers 
manners  spoken  to  his  people,  and  through  them  to  the 
world.  Every  true  believer,  in  whose  heart  is  set  up  the 
kingdom  of  God,  whether  he  be  Papist  or  Protestant, 
bond  or  free,  is  a  member  of  Christ's  body,  which  is  the 
Church.  Every  congregation  of  such  true  believers  in 


84  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

which  the  pure  word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the  sacra- 
ments duly  administered  according  to  Christ's  ordinance, 
is  a  Gospel  Church. 

The  glory  of  the  Church  consisteth  not  in  outward 
circumstances,  neither  in  numbers  nor  wealth,  the  patron- 
age of  the  great,  the  glitter  of  her  temples  nor  the  decora- 
tions of  her  altars.  The  true  glory  of  the  Church  con- 
sisteth : 

I.  IN  FIDELITY  TO  TRUTH.  During  nearly  six  thou- 
sand years  there  has  been  a  relentless  strife  between  truth 
and  falsehood.  The  conflict  began  when  the  woman 
yielded  her  belief  in  the  truth  of  God,  and  credited  the 
gilded  lie  of  the  serpent.  The  divine  Logos  entered  the 
lists  as  the  champion  of  truth,  and  has  been  waging  war 
upon  error  ever  since.  Take  this  key  and  go  abroad, 
and  unlock  the  mystery  which  shrouds  the  dealings  of 
heaven  with  man.  The  Mohammedanism  of  the  East 
and  the  Mormonism  of  our  own  Continent,  the  preten- 
sions of  Zoroaster  and  Confucius,  the  charlatanry  of 
"  science,"  falsely  so-called,  and  the  lying  pomp  and 
vanities  of  the  world  opposed  to  God,  are  all  founded  in 
a  fierce  antagonism  to  truth.  Truth,  like  the  treasured 
ores  hid  away  from  common  sight,  must  be  dug  up  at  the 
expense  of  labor ;  but  toil  will  be  richly  compensated,  and 
the  earnest  seeker  will  become  the  joyful  finder  in  due 
time.  The  Church  is  entrusted  with  objective  truth,  and 
is  successful  in  the  highest  sense  only  as  her  creed  agrees 
therewith ;  therefore,  we  have  the  injunction,  "  earnestly 
contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  "  —  not 
the  saints  canonized  by  ecclesiastical  courts  of  the  post- 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  85 

apostolic  ages,  but  the  faith  delivered  by  the  "  sent  of 
God"  and  inspired  writers.  St.  Paul  would  let  a  burn- 
ing curse  fall  upon  the  head  of  an  angel  should  he  preach 
any  other  gospel  than  that  he  had  received  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Every  system,  whether  of  philosophy  or  religion, 
has  a  few  cardinal  principles  which  give  it  character.  Out 
of  these  flow  sequences  which  are  more  or  less  tinged 
with  the  character  of  the  fountain.  The  chalybeate 
spring  may  divide  into  many  minor  streams,  and  mingle 
with  other  waters,  but  the  iron  is  there,  and  exerts  its 
influence  in  the  new  combination.  No  high  develop- 
ment of  Christian  life  can  be  reached  without  sound 
beliefs  as  the  basis.  The  Synod  of  Dort,  which  announcd 
its  five  points  of  doctrine,  sowed  the  seed  of  an  immense 
harvest  of  exclusiveness  and  bigotry,  and  has  led  many 
into  such  contracted  views  of  the  atonement  and  the  op- 
erations of  divine  grace,  which  have  proven  alike  dishon- 
oring to  God  and  damaging  to  the  hopes  and  interests  of 
immortal  souls.  Superficial  views  of  sin  lead  to  the  wildest 
vagaries  of  doctrine,  and  the  greatest  laxity  of  morals. 
If  sin  be  a  state  of  the  heart  which  is  enmity  itself  against 
God,  then  it  must  be  eradicated,  or  the  soul  forever  ban- 
ished from  his  presence  and  the  glory  of  his  power;  and 
around  this  doctrine  cluster  all  the  precious  truths  of  the 
word  of  God.  But  if  sin  be  a  disease,  as  we  are  gravely 
told,  revelation  is  a  fiction,  and  the  glory  of  the  cross  is 
obscured.  The  Bible  is  the  religion  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  Church  has  only  to  publish  it  in  full 
confidence  that  it  is  the  truth,  with  an  emphasis  that  will 
make  it  felt,  and  it  will  work  out  its  own  demonstration. 


86  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Never  before  was  error  more  rife  than  in  this  restless  age, 
and  against  the  whelming  floods  of  materialistic  ideas  the 
Church  is  to  oppose  a  breakwater,  saying  to  these  angry 
waters,  in  the  name  of  our  God  :  "  Hitherto  shall  thou 
come  but  no  further,  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be 
stayed."  The  doctrines  of  revelation  are  being  subjected 
to  the  severest  tests,  and  the  words  of  the  Psalmist  are 
being  gloriously  vindicated :  "  The  words  of  the  Lord 
are  pure  words — as  silver  tried  in  a  furnace  of  earth, 
purified  seven  times."  The  Church  is  to  be  as  true  to 
truth  as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  otherwise  disaster  will 
come  upon  her,  and  she  shall  be  brought  in  deepest 
humiliation  to  bewail  her  unfaithfulness;  but  God  will 
have  his  witnesses,  and  will  work  by  whom  he  chooses. 
It  was  a  Latin  maxim,  "  Truth,  by  whomsoever  spoken, 
comes  from  God.  It  is,  in  short,  a  divine  essence."  But 
the  truth,  in  its  unmixed  purity,  came  through  Jesus  Christ. 
For  this  purpose  was  he  born,  and  spent  three  years  in 
the  ministry  of  his  own  everlasting  gospel,  that  he  might 
bear  witness  to  the  truth.  It  is  not  only  the  duty  of  the 
Church  to  proclaim  the  truth,  but  it  is  imperative  upon 
her  alone,  since  no  other  institution  proposes  to  discharge 
so  comprehensive  a  work  as  teaching  "  the  whole  counsel 
of  God."  The  school  professes  to  educate  the  mind  in 
the  useful  and  ornamental  arts  of  life,  and  induct  the 
intellect  into  the  temple  of  science,  and  cultivate  the 
sesthetical  susceptibilities  of  our  being.  The  social  and 
benevolent  institutions  teach  truth  of  a  certain  kind, 
veiled  in  allegory  and  illustrated  in  expressive  symbols; 
but  these  do  not  pretend  to  adjust  man's  relations  to 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  87 

God,  and  impart  a  kind  of  information  that  will  survive 
the  umbrage  of  death,  and  be  of  service  in  the  higher 
range  of  thought  that  awaits  the  soul  beyond  the  Lethean 
waters  of  death.  The  Church  is  the  pillar  and  the  ground 
of  truth,  not  by  the  publication  of  formulated  dogmas  of 
comparative  theology,  or  the  multiplication  of  articles  of 
religion,  or  proclaiming  ever  and  anon,  as  Romanism  has 
done,  some  new  tenet,  but  by  holding  fast  that  form  of 
sound  doctri-ne  which  the  canon  of  Divine  Revelatijn 
contains. 

"  Within  this  awful  volume  lies 

The  mystery  of  mysteries. 

O  !  happiest  they  of  human  race 

To  whom  our  God  has  given  grace 

To  read,  to  watch,  to  fear,  to  pray, 

To  lift  the  latch,  and  force  the  way ; 

But  better  had  they  ne'er  been  born 

Who  read  to  doubt,  or  read  to  scorn." 

II.  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH  is  IN  HER  IN- 
WARD PURITY  AND  POWER.  "The  king's  daughter  is 
all  glorious  within."  Nothing  in  the  eyes  of  an  honorable 
man  can  substitute  purity  in  woman,  above  all,  in  that 
one  whom  he  has  promised  to  love  and  cherish.  The 
Church  as  a  chaste  virgin  is  espoused  to  Christ,  and  it  is 
only  as  the  Church  is  .pure  that  it  is  lovely  in  his  sight. 
Not  the  elegant  millinery  of  her  priesthood,  nor  the  in- 
toned service,  nor  chasuble,  nor  surplice,  nor  dim  reli- 
gious lights  delight  the  God  who  looks  upon  the  inner 
man,  and  reads  the  thoughts,  and  to  whom  the  most 
acceptable  sacrifices  are  broken  hearts  and  contrite 


88  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

spirits.  When  the  Church  has  lost  its  heart-purity  it 
has  ever  sought  to  hide  its  deformity  by  these  outward 
trappings.  In  vain  does  Israel  carry  out  the  ark  of  God 
to  the  battle  unless  the  Lord  is,  between  the  cherubim. 
"  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in  power." 
As  in  nature  the  most  potent  influences  are  the  most 
quiet  "and  unobserved;  as  heat,  which  sends  the  juices 
through  vegetation,  and  robes  the  forest,  and  clothes  the 
plains  in  vernal  loveliness  ;  as  electricity,  which  vitalizes 
the  decaying  forces  in  matter;  as  gravitation,  which 
binds  atom  to  atom,  and  links  star  to  star  and  system  to 
system,  and  sends  them  circling  around  their  respective 
centres:  all  these,  silently  working,  are  God's  greatest 
agents  in  nature.  The  Church  is  glorious  when  clothed 
with  power.  There  can  be  no  argument  against  a  holy 
life;  the  good  man's  influence  is  like  a  caravan  bearing 
sweet  spices;  the  very  atmosphere  where  he  moves  is 
fragrant  with  perfumes,  and  when  he  goes  to  his  reward 
his  memory  and  name  is  like  ointment  poured  forth. 
Like  the  lign  aloe  which  dies  at  an  advanced  age  amidst 
clusters  of  blossoms,  which  it  took  years  to  mature,  the 
good  die  amidst  the  praises  of  souls  led  to  Christ  through 
their  instrumentality.  Upon  the  subject  of  inward  holi- 
ness it  behooveth  all  to  know  what  is  taught,  for  the  full 
measure  of  usefulness  can  never  be  reached  by  the 
Church  until  the  people  of  God  are  holy  in  heart  and 
life  and  all  manner  of  conversation.  Some  place  this 
state  so  high  it  is  unattainable  by  the  dwellers  on  earth, 
who  are  compassed  with  infirmities.  It  is  not  angelic, 
much  less  is  it  absolute ;  but  it  is,  in  brief  epitome,  the 


THE  GI+ORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  89 

supreme  love  of  God,  and  the  love  of  man  as  ourself. 
To  reach  such  a  state  requires  "  the  gift  of  power." 
"  The  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the 
Holy  Ghost."  It  is  "  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit."  The  same 
power  that  can  sanctify  a  soul  wholly,  can  preserve  it 
blameless  until  the  coming  of  Christ.  Whatever  of  pre- 
judice there  may  be  arrayed  against  this  experience,  it 
should  yield  before  the  majesty  of  the  word  of  God. 

Does  this  inspired  volume  teach  anything  upon  this 
subject  ?  If  it  does  not,  it  is  most  remarkable  that  a 
large  denomination  should  have  had  its  birth  in  the  pro- 
mulgation of  this  very  doctrine,  and  feel  itself  especially 
charged  with  its  advocacy  in  all  lands.  If  it  is  taught  it 
behooves  us  to  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  will  make  us 
free.  It  avails  nothing  to  object  to  any  truth  that  un- 
worthy persons  have  held  it,  or  it  has  been  the  occasion 
of  fanaticism.  Such  an  objection  would  hold  with  equal 
force  against  any  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures.  Almost 
every  book  of  the  inspired  canon  teaches  something 
upon  this  subject,  either  by  precept,  promise  or  example. 
Enoch,  among  the  patriarchs,  by  faith  walked  with  God 
three  centuries,  and  had  meanwhile  this  testimony,  that 
he  pleased  God.  Job  was  a  perfect  man.  Moses,  by 
inspiration,  makes  this  glowing  promise  to  Israel :  "  The 
Lord  thy  God  will  circumcise  thine  heart,  and  the  heart 
of  thy  seed,  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live." 

Ezekiel,  among  the  prophets,  utters  the  same  language 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord :  "  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean 


90  .     THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

water  upon  you  and  ye  shall  be  clean;  from  all  your 
filthiness  and  from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you." 

But  what  says  Christ  ?  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit ;  for  theirs  is  the  kingom  of  heaven."  Is»  this 
promise  true  ?  "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  ;  for  they 
shall  be  comforted."  Will  the  mourner  be  comforted  ? 
"  Blessed  are  the  meek ;  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth." 
Shall  the  meek  thus  inherit  the  earth  ?  "  Blessed  are 
they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness ;  for 
they  shall  be  filled."  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart ;  for 
they  shall  see  (enjoy)  God."  If  the  other  beatitudes  hold 
good,  will  not  these  also  ?  Then  if  the  soul  is  filled  with 
righteousness  it  is'not  filled  with  sin,  and  if  the  heart  is 
pure  it  cannot  at  the  same  time  be  impure.  The  un- 
scripturalness  hence  appears  of  those  who  earnestly  con- 
tend that  the  hearts  of  sincere  believers  are  necessarily 
full  of  sin;  that  it  cleaves  like  leprosy  to  every  word 
and  act,  and  extends  down  to  all  the  thoughts.  All 
distinction  is  thus  broken  down  between  the  believer  in 
Christ  and  the  sinner ;  righteousness  is  a  myth ;  virtue 
is  no  more  virtue,  but  vice. 

The  heart  is  the  battle-ground  of  a  fearful  conflict 
between  heaven  and  the  powers  of  darkness.  Is  it  pos- 
sible in  this  strife  that  Satan  is  generally  victorious  ? 
Then  is  the  power  of  the  vanquished  serpent  greater 
than  the  omnipotence  of  the  Son  of  God.  Did  not  our 
Lord  rest  his  claims  of  divinity  on  his  superior  power 
over  Satan  ?  "  If  I  cast  out  devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
then  the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  unto  you ;  or  else  how 
can  one  enter  a  strong  man's  house  and  spoil  his  goods 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  91 

except  he  first  bind  the  strong  man."  This  was  the 
purpose  that  brought  him  to  earth  and  led  to  the  battle 
of  Calvary,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil. 
Does  he  look  with  admiration  upon  his  bride  guilty  of 
dalliance  with  his  own  eternal,  irreconcilable  enemy,  or 
rather  does  he  not  delight  to  see  her  arrayed  in  pure 
garments  and  adorned  with  the  chaste  jewelry  of  grace  ? 
God  requires  truth  in  the  inward  parts,  and  makes  no 
compromise  with  sin  in  any  sense  whatever.  His  law 
is  perfect,  and  any  departure  from  it  in  the  heart  or  inten- 
tion forfeits  to  that  extent  his  favor,  and  persisted  in, 
unfits  for  heaven.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  sin  in 
anything;  but  the  soul  may  bear  the  image  of  the  heav- 
enly, its  every  lineament  fair  and  lovely.  This  purity  is 
real  and  personal,  and  hence  the  absurdity  of  the  anti- 
nomian  plea,  that  one's  acts  are  contaminated  with  cor- 
ruption, but  Christ  has  woven  a  robe  of  righteousness 
spotless  and  pure,  and  in  this  righteousness  of  Christ's 
personal  acts  we  are  clothed,  and  are  to  thus  appear 
before  the  throne  of  his  glory.  In  the  visions  of  the 
heavenly  world  given  to  John  we  read  of  the  saints  who 
had  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb.  They  did  not  wash  Christ's  robes, 
but  their  own,  for  it  would  be  a  strange  mixture  of  meta- 
phor, and  contradictory  of  all  reason,  to  affirm  that  we 
wash  his  robes  in  his  own  blood.  In  the  same  book  we 
read  of  the  clean  linen  which  is  the  righteouness  of  the 
saints ;  and  we  hear  a  voice  from  heaven  proclaiming 
the  blessedness  of  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord,  for  their 
works  do  follow  them. 


92  THE  TRIAL  OF  CHRIST. 

Nor  in  this  do  we  undervalue  the  merit  of  Christ;  for 
while  the  creature  is  responsible  for  all  the  acts  done, 
and  thoughts  conceived,  and  words  uttered,  these  are 
acceptable  to  God  only  as  they  are  made  so  by  his  gracious 
assistance.  None  so  magnify  the  grace  of  God  and  are 
-such  debtors  to  his  boundless  love  as  that  one  who  walks 
by  faith. 

"Jesus,  thy  blood  and  righteousness 
My  beauty  are,  my  glorious  dress  : 
'Midst  flaming  worlds  in  these  arrayed 
With  joy  shall  I  lift  up  my  head." 

God  does  no  imperfect  work  either  in  nature  or  grace. 
Sin  blasts  much  that  he  does,  and  modifies  all  his  works  on 
earth.  Consider  his  work  in  the  renewal  of  the  soul.  A 
babe  in  Christ  is  a  perfect  babe,  but  not  a  perfect  man — 
there  is  an  imperfect  development  of  mind  and  heart  and 
body;  but  this  babe,  observing  the  conditions  of  growth, 
may,  in  due  time,  reach  a  robust  manhood  in  Christ  Jesus. 
"  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin;  for 
his  seed  remaineth  in  him  :  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he 
is  born  of  God."  What  words  could  be  stronger  ?  The 
soul  born  of  God  cannot  sin,  because  the  seed  of  purity 
dropped  in  this  soil,  prepared  by  justifying  and  regener- 
ating grace,  remains ;  but  temptation  will  come,  and  in 
most  instances  this  purity  is  yielded ;  but  until  such  com- 
pliance there  is  no  actual  sin.  Can  an  honest  man  steal  ? 
We  answer  unhesitatingly,  no  !  for  the  moment  he  yields  to 
the  temptation  to  take  what  belongs  to  another  his  integ- 
rity is  gone.  Perhaps  we  describe  the  experience  of 
every  Christian  when  we  say,  they  were  very  careful  to 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  .      93 

walk  before  the  Lord  with  pure  hearts  when  first  brought 
to  know  him  as  a  pardoning  Savior.  With  some  this 
lasted  but  a  short  time ;  with  others  for  weeks  or  months. 
At  last  came  the  enemy  in  some  artful  form  ;  then  arose 
the  struggle ;  there  the  battle  of  life  should  have  been 
fought  out  and  decided.  Sanctification,  so  far  as  it  may 
be  considered  a  distinct  blessing,  is  this  consecration 
which  follows  conversion ;  it  is  complete. 

"Take  my  soul  and  body's  powers, 
Take  my  memory,  mind  and  will, 

All  my  goods,  and  all  my  hours, 
All  I  know  and  all  I  feel, 

All  I  think  or  speak  or  do, 

Take  my  heart,  but  make  it  new." 

Such  a  state  must  come  of  sore  travail.  Our  deepest 
and  tenderest  feelings  are  born  of  sorrow,  our  purest  and 
strongest  friendships  are  cemented  by  the  tears  of  sym- 
pathy in  times  of  grief.  Charcoal  is  carbon,  and  so  is  a 
diamond ;  but  one  is  tested,  tried  in  the  fire.  There  is 
no  perfection  that  does  not  admit  of  growth,  an  endless 
progression.  Through  the  vast  ages  of  eternity  the 
watchword  will  be,  "  Let  us  go  on  unto  perfection." 
Perfection  is  with  us  a  relative  term  ;  no  one  is  absolutely 
perfect  on  earth.  The  Scriptures  may  appear  somewhat 
paradoxical.  The  patient  Job  was  a  perfect  man — not  a 
perfect  angel,  much  less  a  perfect  God — and  yet  Job 
sinned  at  one  time.  St.  Paul  was  a  perfect  Christian, 
yet  he  was  tempted,  and  still  he  reached  forward,  not  as 
perfect,  to  the  richer  things  before  him.  The  tree  is  a 
perfect  shrub  as  a  shrub,  when  born  into  the  vegetable 


94  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

world,  but  it  must  grow  ;  the  storms  of  winter  must 
shake  it,  that  its  roots  may  strike  down  deeper  and 
throw  its  boughs  more  widely,  and  sunshine  must  attract 
the  sap  upward  and  push  out  the  buds  and  form  new 
wood — if  must  grow.  If  it  is  a  fruit-bearing  tree,  God 
will  look  for  fruit  thereon,  and,  alas !  if  he  finds  "  nothing 
but  leaves  "  he  will  wither  it  from  its  loftiest  bough  to  its 
deepest  root.  It  is  not  so  much  the  profession  of  holi- 
ness that  is  called  for,  as  the  living  it.  Let  no  one  hide 
his  light  by  refusing  to  own  his  Lord  before .  men,  but  as 
no  true  painter  or  poet  is  heard  to  speak  of  his  own 
work,  the  work  speaking  for  itself,  so  the  true  saint  is 
known  and  read  of  all  men. 

III.    THE   CHURCH  is  GLORIOUS  IN   HER   SOLEMN 
ASSEMBLIES  AND  ORDINANCES  OF  DIVINE  SERVICE. 

God  has  ever  shown  a  peculiar  respect  for  sacred 
places  where  he  has  recorded  his  name  and  blessed  his 
people.  He  showed  to  Moses  a  pattern  in  the  Mount, 
according  to  which  he  was  to  build  his  tabernacle  and 
order  the  services.  The  temple  was  an  enlargement  of 
these  ideas,  and  made  glorious  with  God's  presence : 
"  Here  have  I  placed  my  name,  and  here  will  I  dwell,  for  I 
have  a  delight  therein."  "  How  goodly  are  thy  tents,  O 
Jacob,  and  thy  tabernacle,  O  Israel !  As  the  valleys  are 
they  spread  forth,  as  gardens  by  the  river's  side."  The 
order  of  the  house  of  God  should  be  preserved,  and 
nothing  added  or  taken  away.  At  various  eras  sacra- 
ments have  been  appointed  which  Christ  never  ordered, 
and  performances  have  taken  place  which  marred  the 
fair  beauty  of  the  Church.  The  order  of  God  is  three- 


•     THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  95 

fold — devotion,  rites,  temporal  economy.  The  first  divi- 
sion comprehends  prayer,  preaching,  praise.  The  second, 
baptism  and  the  eucharist.  The  last,  benevolence.  These 
we  are  taught  of  God  to  observe,  and  only  them.  The 
tendency  is  to  more  form  and  less  spirit,  but  the  palla- 
dium of  the  Church  is  in  this  sublime  proposition  of 
Christ :  "  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him 
must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

i.  How  glorious  is  the  king's  daughter  in  the  solemn 
assembly.  There  stands  the  man  of  God,  not  as  man 
simply,  but  as  an  ambassador  for  God,  speaking  in  the 
stead  of  Christ,  as  though  the  Master  himself  spoke,  be- 
seeching sinners  to  be  reconciled  to  God. 

"  By  him  the  violated  law  speaks  out 

Its  thunders;   and  by  him  in  strains  as  sweet 
As  angels  use.  the  Gospel  whispers  peace." 

A  redeemed  world  is  to  be  led  to  the  knowledge  of  sal- 
vation through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  Christ  has 
given  commission  to  disciple  the  world.  This  means  of 
heavenly  appointment  is  the  most  important  of  all  the 
services  of  religion. 

The  Church  is  glorious  in  prayer.  Moses  in  audience 
with  God  was  glorious — such  a  radiance  lingered  upon 
his  face  that  human  eyes  could  not  endure  it ;  but  the 
whole  congregation  may  now  come  to  God  and  com- 
mune with  him.  The  Church  is  a  royal  priesthood,  and 
every  believer  is  his  own  priest,  to  offer  sacrifices  accept- 
able to  God.  The  prototype  of  the  Church  was  not  the 
Temple,  with  its  slaughtered  lambs,  but  the  Tabernacle 
on  Mount  Zion,  with  the  sacred  ark  in  the  midst  of  the 


g6  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

people.  Draw  nigh  to  God — not  to  priests  and  altars,  nor 
to  interceding  angels,  but  to  the  living  God.  His  eyes 
are  over  the  righteous,  and  his  ears  are  open  to  their 
prayers. 

Not  less  glorious  is  the  service  of  praise.  Every  sea- 
son of  spiritual  declension  has  been  marked  by  the  de- 
cadence of  song. 

2.  The  Church  is  glorious  in  her  rites.  There  are  two 
simple  shafts  standing  before  her,  like  the  two  pillars  of 
Perfection  and  Beauty  before  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
monumental  of  the  two  leading  truths  which  she  holds 
most  sacred.  Baptism  is  the  expressive  type  of  purifica- 
tion, not  putting  away,  in  itself,  the  corruption  of  the 
flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God, 
and  a  symbol  to  the  world  of  the  distance  which  sepa- 
rates between  it  and  the  Church.  It  is  the  sign  of 
regeneration  effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Holy 
Supper  is  a  family  ordinance,  expressing  to  the  beholder 
the  fellowship  which  Christians  hold  with  each  other,  and 
with  their  living  Head,  and  keeps  alive  the  death  of 
Christ  in  the  conscience,  and  shadows  the  coming  feast 
to  be  celebrated  in  the  Father's  House,  underneath  the 
radiant  arches  of  that  temple  whose  light  is  God  and  the 
Lamb.  Who  can  look  upon  these  scenes  without  the 
desire  to  be  better,  and  enter  into  them,  and  realize  their 
significance.  How  eloquent  these  ordinances  are  of  a 
dead  and  buried  past,  when  the  sainted  mother  and 
honored  father  kept  them  in  our  sight.  But  these  ordi- 
nances may  be  abused  by  a  too  superstitious  observance, 
and  instead  of  becoming  the  means  to  an  end,  the  chan- 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  97 

nels  through  which  we  receive  grace,  they  may  be  rested 
in  as  sufficient  to  save  the  soul. 

3.  The  activities  of  the  king's  daughter  are  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  relief  of  the  poor :  these  are  her  Lord's 
representatives  on  earth.  The  tears  of  widowhood  and 
orphanage  are  to  be  wiped  away  by  her  pure  and  loving 
hands.  She  is  to  scatter  smiles,  but  food  and  clothing  as 
well;  and  by  weeping  with  those  who  weep,  and  visiting 
the  fatherless  and  the  widow  in  their  distress,  she  weaves 
for  herself  a  robe  of  wrought  gold,  more  valuable  than 
the  purple  with  which  kings  adorn  their  persons,  and 
raiment  of  needlework  such  as  the  most  delicate  handi- 
work cannot  equal. 

IV.  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH  is  MANIFESTED 
IN  HER  WORKS.  Her  clothing  is  of  wrought  gold ;  she 
shall  be  brought  to  the  king  in  raiment  of  needlework. 
In  this  the  Church  is  not  peculiar,  for  God  is  only  mani- 
fested by  his  works.  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God;"  and  "  the  invisible  things  of  him  from  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by 
the  things  that  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and 
Godhead."  Everything  in  nature  reflects  his  wisdom 
and  power. 

"  All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
Whose  body  nature  is,  and  God  the  soul ; 
That  changed  through  all  and  yet  in  all  the  same, 
Great  in  the  earth  as  in  the  ethereal  frame ; 
Warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze, 
Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees." 
We  say  his  wisdom  and  power,  but  not  his  grace,  is 
manifested  in  nature.     In  the  Theophanies  of  the  early 


98  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

dispensations  we  have  manifestations  in  the  bush  of 
Horeb,  which  burned  with  fire  and  was  not  consumed, 
and  in  the  cloudy  pillar  in  the  wilderness,  and  in  the 
Shekinah  in  the  tabernacle,  we  have  God  manifesting 
himself  in  providence ;  but  the  only-begotten  Son  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father  from  all  eternity  hath  declared  him. 
Being  the  brightness  of  his  glory  and  the  express  image 
of  his  person,  he  revealed  the  fatherhood  of  God.  How 
often  was  it  upon  Christ's  lips,  and  how  he  proclaimed 
the  new  evangel,  God's  fatherhood  bending  in  yearning 
pity  over  his  erring  offspring. 

i.  To  the  individual  consciousness  the  knowledge  of 
forgiveness  is  ultimate,  and  is  a  well  of  water  springing  up 
into  everlasting  life ;  but  this  experience  is  not  transfer- 
able to  another;  by  no  words  can  it  be  made  intelligible 
to  others ;  but  we  manifest  the  interior  life  by  our  exter- 
ior conduct.  It  is  a  test  as  natural  as  reasonable,  and  is 
demanded  with  the  greatest  exactitude.  "  By  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them."  As  the  tree  is,  so  will  be  the 
fruits.  Does  the  Holy  Spirit  live  in  the  heart?  The 
fruit  is  "love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, faith,  meekness,  temperance." 

The  juices  of  the  tree  are  hidden,  and  as  the  tree 
stands  out  barren  against  the  wintry  blasts  it  seems  to 
the  eye  dead,  but  the  elements  of  life  are  within,  and  the 
leaves  and  fruitage  will  in  their  season  appear.  The 
fruit  which  is  acceptable  to  God  is  that  which  is  borne 
by  us  in  our  connection  with  Christ.  "  As  the  branch 
cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself  except  it  abide  in  the  vine,  no 
more  can  ye  except  ye  abide  in  me." 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  99 

2.  The  Church  shall,  in  accord  with  the  truths  of 
Revelation,  the  commands  of  the  Lord,  bind  and  un- 
loose, and  unloose  and  bind  men  in  the  various  obliga- 
tions which  the  gospel  imposes.  The  forgiveness  of  sins 
is  a  divine  work,  the  prerogative  of  God  alone,  but  what 
the  Church  does,  as  directed  of  her  Lord,  is  ratified  in 
heaven.  The  Church  cannot  make  a  Christian  any  more 
than  it  can  make  a  world,  but  she  can  clothe  the  Chris- 
tian in  the  badges  of  forgiveness,  and  at  her  altars  are 
vows  plighted  which  it  would  be  mockery  to  violate* 
The  Church  is  the  repository  of  rights  in  the  appointment 
of  laborers  in  the  moral  vineyard,  the  solemn  authorization 
of  ministers,  and  no  Church  is  in  a  healthful  state  which 
does  not  raise  up  and  send  forth  men  to  publish  the  gos- 
pel. When  the  Church  ceases  to  save  souls  from  the 
errors  of  their  sinful  ways,  and  nurse  her  converts  with 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word  from  her  only  maternal 
breast,  the  curse  of  the  Lord  will  rest  upon  her.  Nor  is 
it  enough  to  adopt  the  children  of  others,  and  act  as  a 
step-mother  to  them ;  but  the  evangelical  denomination, 
scorning  the  sophistries  of  proselytism  and  the  sectarian- 
ism of  the  bigot,  addresses  herself  to  the  more  noble 
emulation  of  bringing  many  sons  and  daughters  to  glory. 
It  has  long  become  a  golden  maxim  :  "  In  things  essen- 
tial, unity ;  in  things  not  essential,  liberty ;  in  all  things, 
charity."  If  God  honors  some  who  accompany  not  with 
us,  shall  we  refuse  to  honor  them  ?  Shall  any  ban  those 
whom  God  blesses,  or  forbid  any  to  gather  for  the 
Lord  ?  Is  not  the  world  in  need  of  all  the  good  that 
can  be  wrought  ?  God  will  smile  if  men  frown,  and  his 


100  THE  GLORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

bannered  hosts  will  achieve  success.  Therefore,  we 
labor  in  this  great  harvest-field,  being  assured  that  God 
will  not  forget  our  labor  of  love.  If  we  cannot  go  into 
the  heaviest  standing  corn  and  gather  the  weightiest 
sheaves  for  God,  each  one  may  glean  after  the  reapers. 
It  is  not  the  great  work  that  is  productive  of  the  largest 
aggregate  of  good.  Christ  praised  what  the  world  in  its 
haughtiness  overlooked — the  widow's  mite,  the  cup  of 
cold  water  given  to  a  disciple,  Magdalene's  tears  washing 
his  feet.  What  a  crown  will  the  king's  daughter  weave 
for  the  brow  of  her  Lord  gathering  the  souls  of  men  and 
women  and  little  children,  made  clean  by  her  labors  in 
the  various  departments  of  Christian  enterprise,  and  this 
he  will  wear  as  his  peculiar  honor  through  all  eternity. 
Go  forth  then,  beloved  of  the  Lord,  sheltered  by  the 
broad,  protecting  aegis  of  the  God  of  love,  "  always 
abounding  in  the  word  of  the  Lord,  for  as  much  as  ye 
know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord."  When 
Christ  comes  to  lead  his  bride  to  the  home  he  has  gone 
to  prepare  for  her  reception,  clad  in  her  pure  robes,  she 
shall  accompany  him  through  the  starry  pathway,  and 
the  whole  universe  shall  resound  with  the  loud  choral, 
"  Praise  our  God,  all  ye  his  servants,  and  ye  that  fear 
him,  both  small  and  great.  And  I  heard  as  it  were  the 
voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many 
waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings,  saying 
Alleluia :  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth.  Let 
us  be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give  honor  to  him,  for  the 
marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made 
herself  ready." 


VI. 

THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL  DEATH  AND 
LIFE. 

BY  REV.  F.  X.  FORSTER, 

Prof,  in  Central  College. 


"The  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  death. — ROMANS  viii.  2. 

There  is  in  man  a  law  of  sin  and  death — of  sin  work- 
ing death. 

There  are  means  provided  for  deliverance  from  this 
law — these  means  themselves  a  law — the  law  of  the 
Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Such  are  the  two  great  facts  presented  prominently  in 
the  text — facts  interwoven  with  the  history  of  our  race 
through  all  the  ages  past,  through  all  the  ages  yet  to 
come.  T-he  first  tells  us  what  we  are ;  the  second,  what 
we  may  be.  The  first  finds  expression  in  the  heart- 
shriek,  li  O,  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  "  the  second,  in 
the  shout,  "  I  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."  The  first  puts  us  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death,  with  a  future  of  ever-deepening  gloom,  ever-aug- 
menting woe;  the  second  sheds  around  us  the  beams  of 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  maps  out  the  eternal 


102  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL 

progression  "  from  glory  to  glory."     Let  us  for  awhile 
earnestly  study  these  facts. 

All  creation  exists  under  law ;  it  must  so  exist,  else 
creation  would  be  but  chaos.  The  object  of  law  is  to 
secure  order,  and  thus  to  enable  each  subject  thereof,  in 
the  best  possible  manner,  to  work  out  the  end  of  its 
creation — namely,  the  highest  possible  good  of  which  its 
nature  is  capable.  There  may  be  two  subdivisions : 
namely,  the  law  for  or  over  the  creature,  holding  it  to  its 
right  place ;  and  the  law  in  the  creature,  in  accordance 
with  which  development  and  destiny  are  wrought  out. 

No  divine  law  is  the  arbitrary  enactment  of  the  divine 
will,  but  the  expression  of  the  nature  and  character  of 
both  Creator  and  creature.  To  law  is  necessarily  at- 
tached penalty;  and  this  penalty,  like  the  law,  is  not 
arbitrary,  but  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  nature  of 
the  offender  and  the  offence.  Not  being  arbitrarily 
appointed,  it  cannot  be  arbitrarily  set  aside — cannot  be 
set  aside  at  all ;  it  must  be  met. 

The  two  laws  mentioned  in  the  text,  the  "  law  of  sin 
and  death,"  and  the  "  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  entered  into  the  original  scheme  of  creation  :  the 
one  as  a  statement  of  a  possible  contingency ;  the  other 
as  a  timely  provision  for  that  contingency  when  it  should 
arise.  In  order  that  the  creature  might  develop  char- 
acter, he  must  be  endowed  with  moral  and  intellectual 
faculties;  in  order  that  he  might  attain  to  the  highest 
possible  good,  he  must  be  endowed  with  free  will ;  the 
good  must  be  wrought  out  by  the  intelligent,  voluntary 
exercise  of  his  own  powers.  In  unfallen  beings,  holiness, 


DEATH  AND  LIFE.  103 

which  is  a  positive  state,  is  higher  than  purity,  which  is  a 
negative  state.  God  could  create  man  pure,  and  by 
arbitrary  control  keep  him  so;  he  could  not  create  him 
holy,  much  less  keep  him  so;  for  holiness,  whether  in 
God  or  man,  results  from  the  voluntary  exercise  of  his 
own  powers  in  doing  right.  But  freedom  in  electing  and 
doing  the  right  necessarily  involves  the  power  to  do 
wrong;  and  in  the  creature,  imperfect  in  his  powers,  a 
liability  to  the  wrong.  The  omniscience  of  Deity  fore- 
knew the  doing  of  the  wrong;  the  same  divine  benevo- 
lence which  dictated  the  freedom,  must  either  forego  the 
creation,  and  thus  the  highest  good,  or  provide  along 
with  the  creation  the  remedy  for  the  wrong — the  means 
of  Atonement  and  Restoration.  This  means,  called  in 
the  text  "  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus," 
was,  therefore,  no  after-thought,  but  really,  in  the  purposes 
of  Deity,  antedated  the  sin.  While  sin  formed  no  part 
of  the  original  purpose  in  the  creation,  as  some  have 
vainly  taught,  God,  foreknowing  the  sin,  did  incorporate 
the  Atonement  as  an  integral  part  of  the  plan. 

The  contingency  foreseen  occurred.  Man,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  free  will,  chose  to  sin.  In  this  act  were  involved 
not  only  the  transgression  of  the  divine  command,  but 
also  the  inversion  of  his  whole  nature. 

Man  was  material  as  well  as  immaterial,  physical  as 
well  as  spiritual,  of  the  earth,  earthy,  as  well  as  of 
heaven,  heavenly ;  and  in  this  compound  nature  was  to 
work  out  character  and  destiny.  By  the  proper  exercise 
of  all  the  powers  of  this  mixed  nature  he  was  to  attain 
to  his  highest  possible  good.  The  senses,  the  appetites 


104  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL 

and  desires,  all  kept  to  their  proper  place  and  work  by 
unclouded  intellect  and  pure  affections,  and,  above  all, 
by  conscience,  that  upward  and  Godward  impulse  urging 
to  the  right,  were  all  to  do  their  part  in  attaining  the 
proposed  end.  But  man,  fully  forewarned,  chose  to 
subvert  this  beautiful  arrangement,  and  taking  the  con- 
trol from  the  higher  to  give  it  to  the  lower  powers, 
•  chose  to  take  a  shorter  and  easier  road  to  the  desired 
end — to  deny  the  truth,  "  in  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof 
thou  shalt  die,"  and  to  believe  the  lie,  "  ye  shall  be  as 
gods ;  "  chose  to  eat  of  the  fruit  because  it  "  was  good 
for  food,"  was  "  pleasant  to  the  eyes,"  and  "  to  be  desired 
to  make  one  wise ;  "  chose  to  give  control  to  an  appetite, 
a  desire,  and  thus  to  develop  these  into  a  lust.  Lust 
speedily  conceived;  and  sin  became,  not  a  contingency, 
but  a  tremendous  fact ;  sin  was  finished,  and  it  brought 
forth  death.  No  new  powers  were  acquired,  none  were 
lost ;  but  the  more  noble  and  God-like  were  dethroned, 
and  the  lower,  the  sensual,  were  enthroned.  Man  had 
voluntarily  placed  the  sceptre  within  their  grasp,  and 
these,  now  uncontrolled,  ran  beyond  their  appointed 
sphere,  and  wrought  ruin.  The  "  law  of  sin  and  death," 
thus,  by  the  concurrence  of  his  own  will,  became  the  law 
of  man's  moral  constitution.  He  was  cursed,  for  he 
used  his  own  powers  to  curse  himself;  he  died,  for  he 
used  sin  to  kill  himself — a  spiritual,  immortal  suicide. 

But  "  like  produces  like  "  is  the  great  primal  law  of 
development — the  only  law  of  normal,  righteous  devel- 
opment that  we  at  least  can  recognize.  Designed  to 
carry  man  upward,  this  law,  acting  on  his  now  inverted 


DEATH  AND  LIFE.  105 

nature,  carried  him  downward  with  a  terrible  gravitation. 
Indulgence  produced  increased  lust;  increasing  lust  pro- 
duced increased  sin;  increasing  sin  produced  an  ever- 
dying  death ;  and  the  "  law  of  sin  and  death  "  became 
the  law  of  man's  development. 

Again,  "  like  produces  like.  "  Those  springing  from 
these  parents  must  inherit,  not  the  sin  and  guilt,  but  the 
nature  now  inclined  to  sin.  The  inversion  of  the 
powers,  the  enthroned  self  and  sensualism,  the  blurred 
and  misled  intellect,  the  affections  inclined  to  earthly, 
sensual  objects,  the  dethroned  conscience,  all  are  trans- 
mitted by  the  law  of  "like  produces  like."  No  child  ot 
Adam  comes  into  the  world  a  sinner;  there  is  neither  in 
him  nor  imputed  to  him  any  sin,  for  this  must  be  his 
own  voluntary  act.  There  is  no  guilt,  and,  therefore,  no 
condemnation,  for  "the  free  gift  hath  come  upon  all 
men  unto  justification  of  life."  All  of  his  activities,  both 
physical  and  spiritual,  have  been  touched  and  depraved  by 
sin ;  and  his  tendency  is  necessarily  downward  in  an  ever- 
spreading,  ever-deepening  depravity.*  His  intellect  re- 
mains, but  it  has  been  weakened,  and  is  misled  by  passion. 
His  conscience  remains  intact,  but  it  is  guided  by  this 
weakened,  misled  intellect,  or  is  overruled  by  those  lower 
powers  to  which  its  imperial  sway  has  been  transferred. 
*'  To  will  is  present"  with  him  ;  but  "  how  to  perform  that 
which  is  good,"  how  to  combat  the  stronger  inclinations, 
and  hold  the  will  to  that  performance,  he  finds  not.  There 

*  Depravity  is  total  in  the  sense  that  it  reaches  all  the  faculties  ; 
"spreading  and  deepening,"  in  the  fact  that  these  faculties  are  con- 
tinually brought  more  and  more  under  the  dominion  of  sin. 
8 


106  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL 

is  a  law  in  him  that  when  he  "  would  do  good,  evil  is 
present  with  him."  He  yields  a  willing  obedience  to 
the  lower  powers  of  his  nature,  although  he  feels  them 
to  be  such,  because  they  are  the  stronger ;  and  these  no 
longer  restrained,  overleap  their  legitimate  bounds,  and 
there  is  sin.  The  "  law  in  his  members  warring  against 
the  law  of  his  mind,  and  bringing  him  into  captivity,"  is 
the  "  law  of  sin  and  death."  He  is  "  dead  in  trespasses 
and  in  sins." 

Further  still ;  sin  could  not  destroy  his  immortality, 
though  it  might  debase  and  ruin  the  entire  nature.  Sin 
brought  forth  death ;  but  physical  death  cannot  annul 
the  law  of  spiritual  being,  which  is  not  annihilation,  but 
development ;  and  the  law  of  development  is,  that  "  like 
produces  like."  There  must  be  an  eternal  progression  in 
sin,  under  the  "  law  of  sin  and  death."  The  same  facts 
continue,  the  same  law  governs,  the  same  state  exists,  all 
expanded  and  developed,  expanding  and  developing  so 
"  long  as  immortality  endures."  And  as  sin,  by  its 
violation  of  order  and  right,  necessarily  introduced 
misery,  so  with  the  ever-increasing  sinfulness  must  there 
be  an  ever-increasing  misery.  Eternal  misery  is  the 
same  misery  eternally  continued  and  developed ;  eternal 
death  is  the  same  spiritual  death  eternally  perpetuated — 
the  foliage,  the  flower,  the  fruit  of  the  one  deadly  Upas. 
Neither  is  the  will  or  act  of  God ;  each  is  the  result,  the 
one  ever-developing  result  under  the  "  law  of  sin  and 
death." 

And  now,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  wreck  which 
sin  has  made ;  conscious  of  all  its  deep  degradation  and 


DEATH  AND  LIFE.  107 

misery ;  looking  out  into  the  future  and  beholding  that 
immortality  designed  by  the  wise  and  good  Creator  as 
the  grand  field  of  an  eternal  progression  toward  Himself, 
converted  into  a  vast  lazar-house,  for  an  eternally  increas- 
ing, eating,  spreading  corruption,  and  degradation  and 
misery;  beholding,  feeling  all  this,  I  cry  out  in  agony, 
"  O,  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  I  am  bound — I  have  bound 
myself — to  this  festering  corpse;  I  am  myself  a  festering, 
rotting  corpse!  The  ''law  ot  sin  and  death"  drives 
relentlessly  the  rot  and  the  woe  into  every  part,  every 
fibre  of  my  nature.  It  spreads,  it  tortures,  it  kills.  On- 
ward, downward  I  am  going,  eternally  going — gone, 
hopelessly  gone.  Terrible,  O  terrible  is  the  fact,  that  in 
each  one  of  us  there  is  a  "  law  of  sin  and  death ! " 

How  does  the  Creator  meet  this  fallen,  lost  condition  ? 
Curse  his  creature,  his  child,  because  he  had  sinned  ? 
Had  he  even  been  so  disposed,  it  would  have  been  a 
useless  work,  for  sin  had  already  cursed  its  victim — a 
deep,  a  withering  curse.  Leave  him  alone  under  the 
dominion  of  the  "  law  of  sin  and  death,"  to  work  out  a 
horrible  character  and  a  terrible  destiny  ?  That  would 
have  been  as  unlike  the  great  and  good  Father  as  would 
the  useless  curse.  Turn  from  such  unworthy  thought 
to  the  Revelation  which  He  has  made,  and  there  view 
God,  on  the  one  hand  subsidizing  His  own  eternal 
"  power  and  wisdom  "  *  to  the  work  of  restoration ;  and 
on  the  other,  coming  down  and  searching  amidst  the 
very  ruins  which  sin  had  made  for  helps  in  this  work. 

*    I   Cor.  i.  24. 


108  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL 

The  contingency  foreseen  had  occurred,  and  at  once 
the  remedy  provided  was  put  into  operation ;  coeval  and 
coextensive  with  the  "  law  of  sin  and  death  "  began  the 
restoring  energy  of  the  "  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Atonement-; — penalty  endured  by  another  that 
the  offender  might  escape — is  prepared,  in  order  that  a 
worse  thing  might  not  be  introduced  into  creation  by  the 
pardon  than  had  already  been  by  the  sin — namely,  the 
destruction  of  the  sanction  and  authority  of  all  law.  In 
the  "  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God" 
Deity  assumes  a  nature  that  could  suffer,  that  in  this 
nature  and  by  this  suffering  he  might  "  magnify  the  law 
and  make  it  honorable ; "  thus  giving  to  it  eternal  sanc- 
tion, by  himself  enduring  its  penalty.  The  promise  of 
this  Savior  is  given  as  a  stimulus  to  exertion  and  an  ob- 
ject of  faith.  Sacrifices  are  appointed  as  helps  to  this 
faith  ;  the  ground  is  cursed  for  man's  benefit,  that  in  con- 
quering its  barrenness,  its  thorns  and  thistles,  he  might 
learn  to  hold  will  and  energy  to  worthy  ends,  to  conquer 
and  control  himself;  the  very  suffering  which  sin  had 
brought  is  made  to  point  to  the  One  able  to  save  ;  "  he 
gives  his  angels  charge  concerning  him,  to  bear  him  up 
in  their  hands,  lest  he  should  dash  his  foot  against  a 
stone;"  all  secondary  agencies,  material  and  spiritual, 
are  employed  to  aid  in  the  grand  result.  And  when  "the 
fullness  of  the  times"  had  come,  God  in  Redemption 
binding  again  to  Himself  the  severed  humanity  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  ascends  the  altar  of  sacri- 
fice, and  makes  "  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin."  He  dies ; 
and  the  death-cry.  "  It  is  finished  !  " — the  grandest  words 


DEATH  AND  LIFE.  109 

that  ever  fell  upon  human  ears — proclaims  the  coming 
deliverance  from  the  bondage  to  the  "  law  of  sin  and 
death,"  and  the  full  inauguration  of  that  mightier  "  law 
of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus." 

The  Atonement  by  itself  could  not  break  the  power  of 
the  "law  of  sin  and  death;"  for  this  is  a  law  of  develop- 
ment within  the  individual  nature ;  and  in  order  to  restore, 
Deity  must  enter  the  same  field,  and  the  divine  energy 
be  brought  into  immediate  cooperation  with  the  human. 
Without  the  Atonement  preceding,  this  could  not  be ;  it 
was  "  needful  that  Christ  should  go  away  that  the  Com- 
forter might  come."  With  the  Atonement  it  might  be; 
and  God  the  Spirit — God  in  direct  contact  with  the  crea- 
ture— enters  the  disputed  field,  and,  by  the  consent  of 
the  individual  will,  becomes  an  actor  in  the  contest.  The 
power  must  be  of  God.  God  works  in  man  "  both  to 
will  and  to  do  ; "  but  the  man  himself,  thus  supplemented 
by  divine  power,  must  "  work  out  his  own  salvation." 
The  Spirit  gives  power  to  the  truth  to  reach  the  intellect, 
and  to  the  intellect  to  perceive  and  apply  the  truth ;  so 
that  it  is  no  longer  an  abstraction,  but  a  conviction.  It 
gives  energy  to  the  will,  not  only  "  to  will,"  but  also  "  to 
do  "  the  good  thus  allowed  ;  not  simply  a  spasmodic  voli- 
tion and  effort,  but  a  persistent  holding  of  the  activities 
to  the  good  :  and  there  is  reformation,  repentance.  He 
points  the  soul  thus  made  conscious  of  sin,  and  of  its  own 
inability,  to  the  Atonement  in  Christ,  and  enables  the 
affections  to  grasp  that  Atonement ;  and  thus  "  with  the 
heart  man  believes  unto  righteousness."  The  Spirit 
"  helping  our  infirmities,"  the  man  puts  himself  in  alii- 


no  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL 

ance  with  Christ  as  his  Savior ;  sin  is  pardoned ;  he  is 
"  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  mind ;  "  conscience  is  re- 
stored to  its  rightful  supremacy ;  there  is  now  no  con- 
demnation, for  he  "  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ; "  and  the  "  righte- 
ousness of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  him,  for  he  walks  not 
after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit." 

Thus,  by  the  union  of  these  two  forces,  the  human  and 
the  divine — the  one  to  work,  the  other  to  help  in  that 
work — -the  order  which  sin  had  inverted  is  restored,  the 
"law  of  sin  and  death"  is  broken,  and  the  soul  moves 
forward  toward  holiness  and  God.  "  Raised  by  the 
power  of  God"  into  "newness  of  life,"  in  this  new  and 
free  life  its  activities  go  forth  joyfully  in  search  for  their 
proper  objects ;  and  walking  in  this  "  perfect  law  of 
liberty,"  "  like  producing  like,"  the  man  progresses  to- 
ward his  highest  good.  He  lives — all  his  powers  and 
activities  are  in  free  and  full  exercise  ;  he  lives — 'tis  the 
man  himself  in  all  his  individuality  and  entireness ;  yet 
not  he,  but  Christ  liveth  in  him  ;  he  has  so  infolded  and 
inwarped  the  divine  with  the  human,  that  the  very  warp 
and  woof  of  that  life  is  CHRIST  ;  the  energies  of  Redemp- 
tion are  a  living  power  within  him,  operating  along  with 
his  own  energies ;  and  the  life  which  he  "  lives  in  the 
flesh  "  he  "  lives  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  ot  God."  He  no 
longer  cries,  "  Who  shall  deliver  me  ?  "  for  he  has  found  a 
deliverer — "  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life;  "  and  in  the  bound- 
ing joy  of  that  deliverance  he  shouts  aloud,  "  I  thank 
God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord !  " 

And  thus  all  along  we  have  traced  the  co-existence 
and  co-operation  of  divine  law  and  human  freedom  in 


DEATH  AND  LIFE.  Ill 

the  work  of  Redemption.  In  the  fall  is  human  freedom 
without  God ;  in  the  restoration  is  human  freedom  with 
God.  There  is  bondage ;  yet  is  it  not  the  ordinance  ot 
God,  but  the  result  of  sin  voluntarily  indulged.  In  his 
original  state  man  could  have  stood  firm,  remained  pure, 
developed  into  holiness,  by  his  own  powers  freely  acting 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  and  arrangements  of  his 
Creator.  He  chose  to  do  otherwise;  and  thus  he  intro- 
duced a  new  law  into  his  nature  which  inverted  the 
direction  of  his  development,  and  brought  all  his  powers 
and  activities  into  subjection  to  itself;  and  here  is  the 
only  bondage.  There  is  the  deepest  philosophy  as  well 
as  the  largest  promise  in  those  words  of  Jesus,  "  If  the 
Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed."  Man 
has  sold  himself  under  sin ;  and  the  new  master  thus 
chosen,  converting  the  law  of  "  like  producing  like  "  to 
its  own  purpose,  perpetuates  its  own  dominion.  The 
plan  of  salvation  is  designed  to  atone  for  the  offence  by 
the  vicarious  death  of  Christ ;  and  by  the  direct  opera- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  supply  to  each  individual  thus 
enslaved  the  power  to  break  the  bondage  and  maintain 
the  original  freedom.  The  election  in  this  case,  as  in 
that  of  the  sin,  must  be  made  by  the  individual  man;  it 
is  a  personal  election,  but  it  is  human,  not  divine — made 
by  the  man,  not  by  God. 

So  also  this  liberty  is  perpetuated  in  its  true  form, 
only  by  a  life  of  holiness.  True  liberty  is  freedom  to 
pursue  voluntarily  the  proper  ends  of  being,  the  highest 
good,  by  the  best  means.  There  can  be  no  such  thing 
as  "  liberty  to  sin ;  "  it  is  not  liberty,  but  license  ;  that  is, 


112  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL 

an  abuse  of  power  or  privilege,  and,  like  every  other 
abuse,  must  end  in  either  despotism  or  destruction.  To 
sin  is  to  enslave  one's  self,  to  degrade  and  destroy  the 
true  manhood.  A  sinner  is  a  degraded,  enslaved  man. 
Redemption  proposes  to  destroy  the  sin,  and,  therefore, 
the  slavery ;  to  assist  the  slave  to  recover  his  freedom — 
the  sinner  to  become  again  in  very  deed  a  man  ;  and  the 
"  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  "  is  none  other 
than  the  divinely-appointed  means  whereby  the  sinner 
may  work  himself  up  to  true  manhood  by  voluntarily 
seeking  after  the  best  development  and  the  highest  good 
to  which  his  nature  may  attain.  So  soon  as  sentient 
being  dawns  into  existence,  so  soon  these  two  laws  begin 
their  action — the  one  downward  toward  slavery  and 
destruction ;  the  other  upward  toward  freedom  and 
God.  And  this  action  continues,  the  one  or  the  other  in 
the  ascendency,  according  to  the  election  of  the  individ- 
ual will,  until  at  length  one  is  overpowered,  the  contest 
ceases,  and  the  man  is  either  left  to  "  work  all  unclean- 
ness  with  greediness,"  to  (l  believe  a  lie,"  to  "  glory  in  his 
shame,"  to  develop  eternally  into  a  yet  more  sinful  nature 
and  a  yet  deeper  suffering ;  or  else  he  is  "  made  free 
from  sin,  has  his  fruit  unto  holiness,  and  in  the  end 
eternal  life  " — an  eternal  progression,  in  his  own  character 
and  history,  "  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord." 

May  we  not  be  permitted,  before  concluding,  to  en- 
large upon  the  thought  presented  awhile  back  ?  Terrible 
as  is  the  fact  of  sin — a  foul  leprosy  eating  into  the  vitals 
of  the  universe,  a  dark,  sad  eclipse  upon  the  powers  of 


DEATH  AND  LIFE.  113 

man  and  the  glory  of  God — yet  even  out  of  it  Redemp- 
tion brings  a  blessing.  The  labor  and  suffering  which 
sin,  and  which  the  "law  of  sin  and  death"  developes 
and  perpetuates ;  the  barrenness,  the  thorns  and  thistles 
of  the  ground ;  the  sorrow  and  anguish  of  the  woman  ; 
the  mind  and  heart  struggles  of  the  man ;  all  are  con- 
verted, by  the  "law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus," 
into  aids  and  ministries  whereby  men  may  subdue  self, 
break  the  bondage  of  sense,  and  "  by  patient  continuance 
in  well-doing,"  rise  to  a  higher  life,  and  seek  after  "  glory, 
honor  and  immortality."  Man  must  "  eat  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  his  face ; "  but  this  will  help  him  to  recover  that 
original  fact  in  his  constitution,  that  "  man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  from 
the  mouth  of  God."  Even  physical  death,  itself  the 
terrible  result  of  sin  and  a  mighty  woe  in  the  path  of 
every  one,  becomes  changed  into  a  merciful  means  of 
escape  from  the  temptation  and  struggle  and  agony 
which  the  presence  of  evil  must  ever  induce,  to  a  state 
where  evil  does  not  exist.  Earth  is  made  a  sepulchre 
for  bodies,  that  it  may  not  be  an  eternal  battle-field  and 
charnel  house  for  both  bodies  and  souls;  a  sepulchre 
that  shall  quietly  hold  these  bodies  until  the  "  law  of  the 
Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus "  shall  bring  them  also  to 
share  in  the  completed  triumph,  when  "  death  shall 
be  swallowed  up  in  victory."  Here  I  find,  not  a  reason 
for  sorrow  and  pain  and  death,  for  this  is  found  only  in 
sin,  but  a  use  of  these  that  sheds  a  light  and  glory  over 
earth  and  heaven.  That  glory  is  the  glory  of  the  Cross ; 
that  light  is  from  Him  whose  "  life  is  the  light  of  men." 


114  THE  LAWS  OF  SPIRITUAL 

And  still  a  step  farther ;  I  see  not  why  the  great  sub- 
jective result  of  all  these  agencies  may  not,  aye,  must 
not,  continue  so  long  as  man  himself  continues.  I  find 
no  power  in  death  to  change  the  essential  laws  of  being; 
and  the  law  of  mind  is  progression,  development.  I  read, 
too,  that  "  if  patience  have  her  perfect  work,  ye  shall  be 
perfect  and  entire,  wanting  nothing;"  and  I  may  not 
limit  such  an  exceeding  great  and  precious  promise  to 
the  narrow  possibilities  of  the  earth-life,  but  rather  to  the 
higher  capacities  and  grander  attainments  of  the  heavenly. 
I  read  that  "  the  trial  of  your  faith  might  be  found  unto 
praise  and  honor  and  glory  at  the  appearing  of  the  Lord 
Jesus ; "  that  "  these  light  afflictions  shall  work  out  for  us 
a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  'weight  of  glory  ;  "  and 
I  learn,  not  simply  that  I  am  by  these  to  be  assisted  in 
the  work  of  restoration,  not  simply  that  heaven  is  a  far 
higher  and  happier  place  than  earth,  but  also  that  the 
height  and  happiness  there  shall  be  greater  because  of 
the  labor  and  suffering  here.  The  struggle  developed  the 
muscle  and  the  strength ;  the  very  ardor  of  the  conflict 
gave  energy  to  the  will ;  and  these  together  held  the 
powers  to  yet  more  arduous  struggle  and  more  perfect 
development.  The  heroes  whose  memories  we  reverence 
would,  perhaps,  have  been  good  and  great  men  wherever 
placed,  but  without  the  fierce  conflict,  the  protracted 
agony,  the  glorious  victory,  and  even  the  unmerited  de- 
feat, they  would  never  have  developed  into  those  grand 
proportions  that  have  won  for  them  the  homage  of  the 
nations.  So  man  would  have  found  a  heaven,  and  heaven 
would  have  been  a  high  and  happy  home,  had  sin  never 


DEATH  AND  LIFE.  115 

entered  the  world ;  but  now  it  is  all  the  grander  and  the 
happier  for  the  labor  and  the  suffering  which  sin  brought 
and  saints  conquered.  There  ever  was  and  ever  will  be 
a  "  glory  yet  to  be  revealed  ; "  yet  it  is  a  "  far  more  ex- 
ceeding and  eternal  weight  of  glory  "  because  of  the 
afflictions  of  earth.  On  those  high  mountain-tops  of 
glory  stand  prophets  and  apostles,  and  the  company  of 
those  who  "  have  come  through  great  tribulation,"  all 
scarred  over  with  the  sorrows  and  conflicts  of  earth — 
each  scar  the  focal-point  of  a  far  more  exceeding  glory — 
shouting  back  to  earth,  "  I  thank  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord  ! " 

And  there  may  you  and  I,  fellow-laborers  and  fellow- 
sufferers  "  in  the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus,"  at  last 
stand — on  a  lower  height  it  may  be,  yet  oh,  how  high  ! — 
with  a  lesser  glory,  yet  "  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory ; "  and  catching  up  the  shout, 
send  it  echoing  down  the  ages  of  eternity,  "  I  thank 
God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  The  law  of  the 
Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free,  and  I 
am  free  indeed ! "  Heaven  re-echoes  the  shouts  of  earth, 
and  eternity  repeats  the  triumphs  of  time. 


VII. 
AMAZING  LOVE. 

BY     REV.     W.     C.     GODBEY, 
Of  the   West  St.  Louis  Conference, 


"  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life." — JOHN  iii.  16. 

What  if  God  is  more  like  man  than  we  have  thought 
him  ?  Man  loves,  hates,  sorrows  and  rejoices  ;  the  Scrip- 
tures affirm  the  same  of  God.  The  terms,  when  applied 
to  Him,  are  used  in  their  ordinary  signification,  or  in 
some  other  ;  but  if  in  some  other,  then,  to  me,  they  mean 
nothing  at  all,  since  their  import  is  absolutely  past  con- 
jecture. 

The  Scriptures  say  that  the  feelings  of  God  are  some- 
times wrought  upon  in  the  liveliest  manner — that  he  is 
moved  by  love,  indignation,  grief,  etc.  Yet  we  say  these 
expressions  are  only  employed  to  adapt  to  our  under- 
standing things  otherwise  hard  to  be  understood.  Lan- 
guage, I  believe,  is  not  generally  very  comprehensible 
that  says  one  thing  and  means  another.  If  love  is  not 
love,  if  indignation  is  not  indignation,  if  pity  and  grief 
are  not  pity  and  grief  in  God  as  well  as  in  me,  then  tell 
me,  if  you  can,  what  they  are.  But,  again,  I  am  told 
that  the  Ho]y  Spirit,  by  attributing  to  God  these  pas- 


AMAZING  LOVE.  117 

sions,  only  aims  to  adapt  himself  to  my  understanding. 
I  verily  believe  it,  and  I  shall  understand  him  to  mean 
just  what  he  says. 

Now,  then,  I  shall  believe  that  God  is  a  being  capable 
of  suffering,  and  that  he  does  suffer.  What  reason  will 
you  urge  against  it  ?  Must  I  be  told  that  God  is  a  per- 
fect being,  and  that  suffering  cannot  be  a  quality  of  per- 
fection ?  The  conclusion  is  by  no  means  clear  from  the 
premise,  while  observation  wants  but  little  to  demonstrate 
it  false.  The  nearer  a  being  approaches  to  perfection  the 
greater  its  capacity  for  suffering.  It  is  not  possible  for  a 
swine  to  suffer  as  a  man.  Ascending  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest  in  the  scale  of  animal  existence,  we  find  the 
capacity  of  suffering  evidently  increasing  exactly  in  pro- 
portion as  progress  has  been  made  toward  perfection. 
Among  men  there  is  also  a  difference  of  capacity,  and 
the  highest  and  most  perfect  organization  of  mind  and 
body  is  that  which  can  suffer  most.  Will  I  be  told  that 
goodness  excludes  suffering,  and  that,  therefore,  to  per- 
fect holiness  suffering  is  impossible  ?  The  best  beings 
that  we  know  are  those  that  can  surfer  most,  and  for 
some  causes  do  suffer.  A  bad  man  will  not  grieve  much 
over  his  prodigal  son  ;  a  good  one  will  grieve,  and,  other 
things  being  equal,  the  grief  will  be  in  proportion  to  the 
goodness.  The  purest  souls  are  susceptible  to  the  in- 
tensest  pain  at  the  sight  of  moral  wrong,  and  the  pain  is 
in  strict  relation  to  the  purity.  But  this  is  only  mental 
suffering,  you  say.  My  answer  is,  that  the  mind  can 
suffer  more  than  the  body.  A  physical  nature  is  by  no 
means  essential  to  a  capacity  for  suffering.  So  far  as  the 


Ii8  AMAZING  LOVE. 

facts  of  constant  observation  can  teach  us,  the  highest 
and  purest  spiritual  organization  is  that  which  can  suffer 
intenser  pain  than  anything  else  whatever.  If  these  in- 
ductions may  be  trusted,  then  God  can  suffer  more  than 
any  other  being. 

This  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  one  other  considera- 
tion. Capacity  of  happiness  involves  capacity  of  suffer- 
ing. The  one  is  the  exact  measure  of  the  other.  You 
love  your  child :  precisely  in  proportion  to  your  affection, 
which  is  an  occasion  of  happiness,  is  your  anxiety  for 
him  when  he  is  sick;  your  pain  when  he  disobeys  you; 
your  agony  when  he  dies.  It  would  be  easy  to  give  a 
thousand  illustrations,  but  this  is  sufficient.  Whatever 
under  some  conditions  is  a  source  of  pleasure,  is  equally, 
under  opposite  conditions,  a  source  of  pain,  and  the 
measure  of  power  to  enjoy,  in  every  being  that  we  know, 
is  exactly  the  measure  of  power  to  suffer.  If  this  be 
not  true  of  the  Highest  of  Beings,  then  nature  has  herein 
failed  to  interpret  her  great  Author. 

As  for  the  Scriptures,  they  tell  us  that  God  is  our 
Father;  that  "we  are  his  offspring;"  that  man  was 
created  "  in  the  image  of  God."  "  Yes,  in  his  moral 
image,"  says  the  theologian.  I  grant  it ;  but  the  asser- 
tion is  broader ;  the  limitation  is  purely  human.  The 
image  extended  to  all  the  faculties  and  capacities  of  the 
soul,  so  that  in  his  spiritual  organization  the  child  was  an 
exact  reproduction  of  his  father.  It  may  be  that  I  have 
not  every  faculty  of  the  Divine  Being,  but  such  as  I  pos- 
sess are  copies  of  his  own ;  only  mine  are  finite  and  his 
are  infinite.  To  make  my  meaning  clearer,  I  will  as- 


AMAZING  LOVE.  119 

sume  that  I  am  a  perfectly  good  man.  And  now  I  will 
say  that  I  know,  but  in  the  same  sense  of  the  word  God 
knows  more  perfectly;  I  hate,  but  the  things  I  hate  he  hates 
more  intensely ;  I  love,  but  his  loves  are  stronger ;  I  sor- 
row, but  his  sorrows  are  deeper.  The  passions  and 
emotions  I  feel  belong  to  God  also,  but  his  are  more 
powerful  every  way — as  much  more  powerful  as  his 
nature  is  greater  than  mine.  Is  all  this  denied  ?  Then 
what  is  the  alternative  but  a  Hindoo  god,  passionless 
and  impassive,  untouched  by  any  sentiment  or  concern 
for  his  creatures  ;  or  a  god  like  that  of  Herbert  Spencer, 
perhaps  equally  impassive  and  unconcerned,  and  besides, 
absolutely  unknown  and  unknowable. 

These  preliminary  reflections  I  felt  were  necessary  to 
prepare  us  to  explore  the  meaning  of  our  text.  In  so 
doing  we  shall  see,  perhaps,  that  what  thus  far  may  seem 
to  be  little  more  than  philosophy,  is  well  sustained  by 
that  which  is  revealed.  And  now,  praying  to  |be  taught 
of  God,  let  us  endeavor  to  search  the  meaning  of  the 
words,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only- 
begotten  Son." 

My  imagination  carries  me  back  to  the  time  when 
the  world  was  not,  and  man  was  yet  but  an  unaccom- 
plished idea  of  the  divine  mind.  I  see  in  God  a  being 
of  infinite  benevolence.  I  see  in  life  a  blessing — if  well 
improved,  an  unspeakable  blessing — a  happinesss  no  arith- 
metic can  sum,  and  sin  only  can  make  it  a  curse.  The 
benevolence  of  the  Divine  Being  prompts  him  to  impart 
life.  The  highest  benevolence  produces  the"highest  life, 
and  man  is  created  in  the  image  of  ^God.  An  essential 


120  AMAZING  LOVE. 

part  of  that  image  is  freedom,  therefore  man  was  created 
free.  I  speak  it  with  reverence ;  the  Almighty  had  no 
choice  except  between  an  agent  and  a  mere  machine. 
The  highest  possibilities  of  happiness  were  on  the  side  of 
agency;  infinite  benevolence,  therefore,  compelled  that 
man  be  created  free.  A  being  that  had  no  choice  was 
not  capable  of  exalted  bliss.  Yet  if  the  will  were  free, 
there  was  a  possibility  that  the  being  would  choose  evil. 
Were  it  not  that  Infinite  Wisdom  leaps  at  once  to  the 
right  conclusion,  I  should  picture  to  myself  the  great 
eternal  Three  as  counseling  long  ere  it  was  at  last  an- 
nounced, "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image  and  after  our 
likeness"  The  work  was  done;  and  now  I  behold  the 
infinite  Father  watching  over  this  offspring  of  his  love 
with  a  solicitude  of  which  our  tenderest  fatherly  affection 
is  but  a  poor  interpreter.  He  gives  him  an  abode  worthy 
to  be  the  dwelling-place  of  angels,  and  himself  often 
comes  to  his  children  in  the  cool  of  the  day.  In  sub- 
lime and  holy  converse  he  teaches  them  the  lessons  it  is 
needful  for  them  to  learn.  He  spreads  no  snare  for  their 
feet — far  otherwise ;  but  there  is  danger,  and  he  graciously 
points  it  out  and  bids  them  beware.  He  made  them, 
and  is,  therefore,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  condi- 
tions of  their  happiness.  They  must  ever  abide  in  loving 
iclation  to  him  as  he  will  to  them.  Love  must  be  the 
chord  fastening  them  to  him  as  to  a  centre.  Within  the 
circle  to  be  described  by  such  a  radius  they  may  exer- 
cise all  their  powers  and  be  blest.  Obedience  will  be  the 
test  of  this  love,  and  when  obedience  fails  it  will  show 
that  the  chord  is  broken ;  that  the  centrifugal  forces  of 


AMAZING  LOVE.  121 

passion  have  overcome  the  centripetal  power  of  love,  and 
man  has  gone  off  at  a  tangent  from  his  Maker.  To  prove 
obedience,  the  Father  lays  upon  them  a  single  command; 
and  for  this  why  not  as  well  say,  "  Ye  shall  not  eat  of 
the  fruit  of  that  tree  ?  "  The  impulse  to  violate  that  com- 
mand will  indicate  the  danger  of  the  heart's  defection ; 
the  struggle  with  the  tempter  will  proclaim  it  nearer ;  dis- 
obedience will  demonstrate  its  completion — demonstrate 
it  not  to  God,  for  he  knew  it  the  moment  the  volition 
was  formed;  but  demonstrate  it  to  other  intelligences  and 
to  man  himself;  compel  him  to  plead  guilty  at  the  tri- 
bunal of  his  own  conscience,  and  convict  him  without  a 
trial.  Who  can  object  to  an  arrangement  like  this  ? 
Who  that  will  pause  and  candidly  consider  will  not  ad- 
mit that  here  were  wisdom  and  goodness  in  their  highest 
exercise  ? 

The  essential  condition  of  happiness — I  mean  loving 
obedience — was  despised,  sacrificed  to  baser  appetite, 
which  now,  by  a  law  that  increases  its  force  with  exer- 
cise, began  to  assert  supreme  control.  What  should  the 
Almighty  Father  do  ?  Should  he  destroy  this  creature 
of  his  goodness  and  create  again  ?  A  second  creation 
must  involve  all  the  conditions  of  the  first — be  subject 
to  the  same  dangers,  and  to  it,  sooner  or  later,  the  same 
event  would  come.  Should  he  then  refuse  to  create  at 
all,  dwell  alone  in  the  midst  of  a  silent  universe,  look  in 
eternal  solitude  from  his  throne  upon  upper,  nether  and 
surrounding  space,  or  build  for  himself  a  universe  devoid 
of  moral  life,  and,  therefore,  of  his  own  image,  the  habi- 
tation of  brutes  alone?  Benevolence  forbade  it.  Be- 
9 


122  AMAZING  LOVE. 

nevolence  said,  "  Go,  rescue  the  child  of  the  fall." 
"  But  how  do  this  ?  "  said  Justice,  "  for  his  life  is  forfeit 
to  me,  and  he  must  die."  Everlasting  Love  said,  "  Spare 
him,  for  he  is  my  offspring."  Justice  cried  again,  "  It 
must  not  be;  wouldst  thou  stain  the  throne  of  God, 
and  by  denying  to  me  that  which  is  rightfully  mine, 
make  the  Ever-Blessed  himself  a  sinner  by  consenting 
unto  sin  ?  "  Eternal  Wisdom  spake  and  said,  "  Hear 
me,  and  I  will  end  the  strife.  Justice  shall  have  her 
own,  and  Mercy  too.  Justice,  that  Mercy  may  have  her 
way,  let  thy  stroke,  glancing  athwart  from  man,  fall  on 
me  that  made  him."  Justice  and  Mercy  kissed  each  other. 
Heaven  smiled  through  tears.  God  came  down  to 
earth  to  say  to  man  that  he  was  no  longer  a  fit  inhabi- 
tant of  Eden,  and  kindly  to  clothe  him  with  skins 
against  his  departure  to  a  more  inclement  clime.  Justice 
led  him  forth,  but  Mercy  wept  upon  his  steps,  and 
whispered  to  him  in  going,  "  The  seed  of  the  woman 
shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head."  Justice  and  Mercy 
together  closed  the  gate  behind  him 

"  Till  one  greater  Man 
Restore  us  and  regain  the  blissful  seat  " 

And  now, 

"  To  their  fixed  station,  all  in  bright  array, 
The  Cherubim  descended  on  the  ground, 
Gliding  meteorous  as  evening  mist 
Risen  from  a  river  o'er  the  marish  glides, 
And  gathers  ground  fast  at  the  laborer's  heel, 
Homeward  returning." 


AMAZING  LOVE.  123 

But  Adam  and  his  spouse, 

"  Some  natural  tears  they  dropped,  but  wiped  them  soon  ; 
The  world  was  all  before  them  where  to  choose 
Their  place  of  rest,  and  Providence  their  guide. 
They,  hand  in  hand,  with  wandering  steps  and  slow, 
Through  Eden  took  their  solitary  way." 

Ere  long  God  looked  down  upon  a  world  that  was 
full  of  wickedness.  He  saw  men  as  children  that  had 
learned  to  hate  their  Father.  He  saw  in  them  his  own 
image,  divinity,  dishonored,  sullied  and  eclipsed,  and  it 
grieved  him  at  his  heart.  Yes,  my  brethren ;  I  have  but 
quoted  to  you  his  own  confession — "  it  grieved  him  at 
his  heart.''1  I  suspect  that  these  are  no  empty  words; 
that  he  felt  a  thousand  times  more  than  you  or  I  could 
feel  if  our  children  should  dishonor  our  authority,  curse 
us  to  our  face,  do  whatever  we  had  forbidden  them,  and 
delight  themselves  in  all  that  we  abhor  the  most.  I  say 
God  felt;  if  you  understand  it  better,  that  divinity 
suffered — suffered  ten  thousand  times  more  than  you  or 
I  could  suffer,  because  its  capacities  are  ten  thousand 
times  greater  than  yours  or  mine ;  that  when  God 
regarded  the  depths  of  man's  iniquity  from  the  lofty 
height  of  his  own  purity  ;  when  he  regarded  the  mental 
anguish  and  bodily  pain  his  children  had  entailed  upon 
themselves,  and  which  his  eye  could  take  in  from  the 
beginning  of  time  to  its  close  with  one  wide  sweep ; 
when  he  regarded  the  consequences  of  sin,  not  as  tran- 
sient, but  lasting  as  eternity,  a  duration  which  his  infinite 
mind  alone  could  comprehend — I  repeat  it,  he  suffered 


124  AMAZING  LOVE. 

as  only  a  God  could  suffer.  I  accept,  therefore,  with  a 
meaning  that  to  me  is  boundless,  his  own  declaration, 
that  it  grieved  him  at  his  heart. 

Do  you  ask  for  further  demonstration  of  a  thought  so 
bold  ?  I  answer,  that  what  God  has  done  for  men  indi- 
cates a  deep  concern — more  than  a  father's  solicitude  for 
his  children.  You  are  a  father,  and  your  child,  dishonor- 
ing and  despising  you,  has  entered  upon  the  paths  of 
vice.  Your  eye  never  rests  upon  him  now  without  your 
fatherly  heart  being  pierced  with  an  unspeakable  sorrow. 
For  him  you  have  endured  mental  suffering,  anxiety  and 
solicitude,  more  distressing  than  bodily  pain.  This  may 
be  to  you  a  dim  and  distant  intimation  of  what  the 
Almighty  Father  suffered "  when  he  saw  all  his  children 
armed  against  him.  This  may  serve  to  indicate  to  you 
something  of  the  meaning  of  some  of  his  utterances  and 
expostulations  with  men.  With  fatherly  anxiety  he 
superintended  the  passage  of  Israel  through  the  wilder- 
ness, and  the  prophet,  referring  to  this,  says .  "  In  all  their 
afflictions  he  was  afflicted ;  the  angel  of  his  presence 
saved  them ;  in  his  love  and  in  his  pity  he  redeemed 
them."  Hear  him  amid  the  darkness  of  Mount  Sinai 
talking  to  himself,  and  bemoaning  the  hardness  of  his 
children,  saying :  "  O  that  there  were  such  an  heart  in 
them  that  they  would  fear  me  and  keep  all  my  com- 
mandments always,  that  it  might  be  well  with  them  and 
with  their  children  forever ! "  Again,  with  weeping 
voice  he  cries  after  them,  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why 
will  ye  die !  "  And  again,  "  Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son, 
is  he  a  pleasant  child  ?  for  since  I  spake  against  him  I 


AMAZING  LOVE.  125 

do  earnestly  remember  him  still.  How  shall  I  give  thee 
up,  Ephraim  ?  how  shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah  ?  how 
shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim  ?  mine  heart  is  turned  within 
me,  my  repentings  are  kindled  together.  I  will  not 
execute  the  fierceness  of  mine  anger."  What  fatherly 
tenderness  when  he  says,  "  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason 
together;  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be 
white  as  snow,  and  though  they  be  red  like  crimson, 
they  shall  be  as  wool."  Such  expressions  as  these  indi- 
cate to  me  that  the  great  ocean  of  Divinity  is  heaving 
beneath  the  tempest ;  that  the  heart  of  God  is  shaken 
with  an  unutterable  sorrow.  If  they  mean  less  than 
this,  how  shall  I  understand  that  they  mean  anything  at  all. 
I  seem  now  to  see  God  struggling  with  human  wick- 
edness from  age  to  age,  and  striving  to  remove  it.  I 
see  evil  existing  still,  not  because  God  permits  it,  but 
only  because  he  cannot  prevent  it — cannot  prevent  it,  I 
mean,  without  doing  something  inconsistent  with  the 
final  and  greatest  good.  He  cannot  prevent  it  without 
taking  away  from  man  the  power  to  do  good  as  well  as 
evil,  without  reducing  him,  in  fact,  to  the  condition  of  a 
brute,  and  depriving  him  of  moral  responsibility.  But 
this  would  make  the  moral  universe  a  solitude,  and 
destroy  the  possibility  of  happiness  to  the  many  who 
will  attain  it.  I  see  his  hand  uplifted  to  strike  the  blow 
that  would  leave  the  earth  without  an  inhabitant,  and  I 

» 

hear  him  say,  "  It  repenteth  me  that  I  have  made  man 
upon  the  earth ; "  but  his  fatherly  affection  prevails,  and 
the  stroke  is  deferred  a  hundred  and  twenty  years ;  and 
during  this  time  he  pleads  with  his  rebellious  children. 


126  AMAZING  LOVE. 

And  when,  at  last,  they  will  not  repent,  he  drowns  them, 
less  by  a  flood  of  waters  than  by  the  tempest  of  his 
sorrow  for  their  sin.     It  is  not  resentment  that   takes 
them  away ;  it  is  the  last  desperate  resort  of  that  love 
which  amputates  the  limb  to  save  life.     Afterward  I  see 
him  rain  fire  and  brimstone  upon  the  guilty  cities  of  the 
plain,  not  for  their  destruction,  but  that  he  may  save,  by 
the  sad  example,  from  eternal  fire  the  millions  that  shall 
come  after  them.     I  see  him  talking  with  Abraham,  and 
anon  calling  the  Israelites  his  chosen  people ;  and  yet  his 
love  is  not  exclusive,  it  is  only  working  through  these 
for  the  recovery  of  all  his  children.     It  is  not  partiality 
that  impels  him ;  it  is  necessity  imposed  by  the  constitu- 
tion of  human  nature  and   its  relations  to  the  divine 
nature.     A  little  reflection  will  suffice  to  convince  us 
that  there  was  no  other  way — at  least,  no  other  open  to 
so  few  objections.     If  God  had  spoken  to  all  men,  what 
is  supernatural  in   such  a  communication  would  have 
become  common,  and  all  men  would  have  rejected  it  as 
lacking  the  evidence  of  miracle ;    had  he  taught  more 
rapidly  than  he  did,  he  would  have  outrun  the  slow 
processes  of  minds  that  were  learning  against  their  will. 
I  see  clearly  there  was  no  other  way,  and  I  acknowledge 
further,  that  as  often  as  he   applied  the  scourge,  it  was 
but   the   desperate   resort   of  love   that   had   no    other 
resource.     I    am    not   astonished   now    that   such   love 
should  go  its  utmost  length  and  immolate  itself,  although 
it  should  result  in  the  recovery  of  but  a  portion  of  his 
children.     I   wonder  no   more  that   God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son. 


AMAZING  LOVE.  127 

Great  was  the  mystery  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  no 
doubt,  but  the  love  that  prompted  it  is  to  me  more  a 
mystery  than  the  fact.  Could  we  understand  the  one  we 
should  cease  to  view  with  surprise  the  other.  And,  now 
that  we  have  familiarized  ourselves  somewhat  with  the 
real  meaning  of  all  that  went  before,  we  gaze  with  some- 
what abated  wonder  at  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem.  Indeed, 
we  can  almost  say  it  was  what  we  expected  to  see.  Yet 
it  was  an  event  which  took  the  world  by  surprise.  Men 
saw  in  the  scourgings  and  rebukes  of  a  former  age  only 
the  demonstrations  of  divine  wrath.  Spiteful  and  obsti- 
nate children  were  agreed  that  their  Father  smote  them 
but  in  anger,  and  they  only  seemed  to  grow  harder  under 
the  rod  They  looked,  indeed,  for  the  promised  seed  of 
the  woman,  but  they  thought  he  would  arm  his  hand 
with  thunderbolts,  and  mounting  his  war-chariot  hurl 
them  flaming  on  every  side  and  ride  victorious  over  the 
necks  of  prostrate  nations.  Such  a  victory,  if  achieved, 
would  not  be  lasting.  Man  would  have  done  so,  but 
Divine  Wisdom  knew  that  "  he  who  wins  by  force  hath 
overcome  but  half  his  foe."  He  must  break  the  hearts 
of  his  children  by  the  condescension  of  his  love  if  he 
would  gain  to  himself  the  allegiance  of  their  hearts  for- 
ever. He  took  them  by  surprise;  they  had  not  dreamed 
that  he  was  about  to  stoop  so  IDW.  The  difficulty  from 
henceforth  would  be  to  believe  their  senses,  when  they 
saw  divinity  veiling  itself  in  the  poor  shrine  of  an  infant's 
body  and  reclining  in  a  stall.  The  Great  Teacher  had, 
in  his  anxiety,  well  nigh  overreached  the  capacity  of  his 
pupils  The  star,  the  angels,  and  the  wise  men  were  not 


128  AMAZING  LOVE. 

enough.  It  wanted  the  labor  of  years  to  convince — 
years  fraught  with  deeds  such  as  none  but  God  could 
do,  and  marked  by  utterances  such  as  never  fell  from  the 
lips  of  man.  But  it  was  not  till  the  life  of  Jesus  on  the 
earth  was  ended  that  its  full  significance,  flashing  upon 
the  understanding,  broke  the  hearts  of  men.  Nay,  it  was 
not  until  his  resurrection  from  the  dead.  They  saw  then 
and  believed  that  the  child  of  the  manger  was  the  Son  of 
God.  They  saw  then  that  the  insulted  and  agonized 
Father  had,  to  win  back  his  children,  given  his  only  be- 
gotten and  well-beloved  Son ;  not,  indeed,  with  a  cer- 
tainty that  by  so  doing  he  would  save  all,  but  only  that 
"  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life." 

Let  us  pause  a  moment  now  and  consider  this  stu- 
pendous fact.  God  gave  his  only  begotten  Son.  The 
words  imply  a  sacrifice,  and  there  can  be  no  sacrifice 
without  suffering.  We  constantly  speak  of  the  act  as  one 
of  the  greatest  sacrifice,  and  yet  we  as  constantly  ignore 
the  fact  that  it  cost  real  suffering  on  the  part  of  God. 
Who  gave  us  liberty  so  to  interpret  the  Scriptures  I  can- 
not tell.  That  God  should  really  suffer  to  win  back  err- 
ing men  is,  I  know,  such  an  astounding  demonstration  of 
love  that  the  world  has  ever  staggered  to  receive  it. 
Even  good  men  have  generally  disbelieved  and  said  that 
nothing  suffered  but  humanity.  Many  have  found  even 
this  too  much  for  their  faith,  and  have  said  that  humanity 
suffered  but  in  appearance  only;  while  others,  more 
doubting  still,  have  claimed  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  a 
real  person,  but  only  a  shadow,  a  divinely-sent  illusion  to 


AMAZING  LOVE.  129 

soften  the  hearts  of  men.  The  great  majority  of  Chris- 
tians have  contended  that  the  sufferings  of  humanity 
were  real,  but  they  have  confined  them  to  humanity 
alone.  But,  O  my  brethren !  I  can  but  think  that,  by 
such  a  conclusion,  we  still  do  injustice  to  the  love  that 
redeemed  us.  The  Scriptures  tell  us  that  God  gave  his 
only  begotten  and  well-beloved  Son.  If  the  words  have 
meaning,  then  by  that  act  his  fatherly  heart  was  wrung 
with  an  infinite  sorrow.  Did  God  then,  indeed,  suffer  to 
rescue  his  fallen  children  ?  It  must  be  true  if  he  indeed 
pitieth  as  we  pity  our  children.  Need  I  ask  if  you,  my 
brother,  would  suffer  to  see  that  loving  and  obedient 
child  of  yours  degraded  to  the  lowest  condition,  made 
the  servant  of  the  meanest,  despised  by  all,  the  victim  of 
unknown  sorrows,  and  then  nailed  to  a  cross  full  before 
your  eyes,  there  to  agonize  and  die  ?  If  a  little  nature 
like  yours  would  feel  thus  to  give  up  one  son  among 
many,  how  did  the  great  heart  of  God  then  resolve  itself 
into  an  ocean  of  sorrow  when  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
and  well-beloved  Son? 

The  Scriptures  declare  that  Jesus  was  God  not  less 
than  man,  and  they  tell  us  that  he  suffered.  He  suffered 
in  his  entire  being.  At  the  grave  of  Lazarus  God  wept 
as  well  as  man.  When  they  said,  "  Thou  hast  a  devil," 
God  felt  the  insult  as  well  as  man.  When  he  said,  "  O 
Jerusalem  !  Jerusalem  !  thou  that  killest  the  prophets  and 
stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  oft  would  I 
have  gathered  thee  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  brood  under  her 
wings,  and  ye  would  not !"  divinity  no  less  than  humanity 
felt  all  that  was  meant  by  the  bitter,  burning  tears  that  fell. 


13°  AMAZING  LOVE. 

And  who  can  look  upon  the  closing  scene  and  believe 
that  it  was  humanity  alone  that  suffered  then  ?     He  had 
often  spoken  ot  his  hour  as  still  in  the  future ;  what  un- 
speakable sorrow  when  at  last  he  announced,  "  The  hour 
is  come  !  "     And  then  his  intercessory  prayer,  that  "  es- 
caped from  his  heart  like  a  long  sigh  of  sorrowing  love  !" 
And  then  Gethsemane  !     O  the  length,  and  breadth,  and 
depth,  and  heighth  of  the  love  that  was  manifested  there! 
One  has  eloquently  said,  "  It  was  love  that  had  failed  in 
life,  determined  to  succeed  in  death."     You  know  the 
rest,  my  brethren.     Before  your  eyes  now  are  bufferings, 
and   mockings,   and   revilings,   insulting    priests,   mock 
robes,  false   disciples,  the  dreadful  scourge,  a  crown  of 
thorns,  and  one  staggering  under  the  weight  of  a  cross  he 
is  not  able  to  bear.     Humanity  alone  felt  the  scourge, 
the  smiting,  and  the  nails,  but  the  insult  went  to  the 
heart  of  divinity.     The  agony  of  that  father's  heart  is 
not  to  be  imagined  who  should  receive  such  things  at  the 
hands  of  his  children  ;  the  anguish  of  that  son  is  not  to  be 
surmized  who  should  receive  such  things  at  the  hands  of 
his  brethren.      To  be  seized  by  ruffian  soldiers  and  spiked 
to  the  fatal  wood — this  implies  a  suffering  that  can  only 
be  divinely  understood.     But  it  was  not  this,  I  believe, 
that  killed  the  blessed  Jesus.     He  died,  literally,  of  a 
broken  heart.      Two  or  three  days  at  least  must  have 
been  required  to  end  his  existence  on  the  cross,  but  in 
six  hours  he  was  dead.     For  what  I   speak  now  I  can 
give  the  highest  medical  and  scientific  authority — that 
the  excess,  not  of  bodily  but  of  mental  anguish,  ruptured 
the  walls  of  his  heart.     The  proof  I  cannot  give  in  this 


AMAZING  LOVE.  131 

place,  but  the  fact  is  highly  probable.  It  is  known  that 
grief  may  be  so  intense  as  in  some  instances  to  occasion 
the  rupture  of  that  vital  organ  and  the  instant  extinction 
of  life.  It  must  have  been  so  with  the  world's  Re- 
deemer. There  is  no  other  rational  account  of  the  blood 
and  water  that  followed  the  soldier's  spear.  He  went  to 
the  cross  sustaining  himself  with  the  assurance  that  if 
earth  frowned  heaven  would  smile,  and  that  hereafter  he 
should  see  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satisfied.  But 
it  was  the  hour  and  power  of  darkness.  When  the  nails 
were  already  in  his  hands  and  in  his  feet,  and  his  soul  was 
pressed  by  the  sins  of  the  world  like  a  cart  under  many 
sheaves,  Heaven,  that  the  sacrifice  might  be  complete, 
turned  away  his  eye  of  compassion  and  refused  to  behold 
the  unutterable  sorrow ;  or  it  may  be  that  the  sight  of 
such  agony  in  one  so  beloved  was  too  much  for  the  Di- 
vine Father.  He  blotted  out  the  sun  and  withdrew  his 
presence.  Under  that  awful  sense  of  the  hiding  of  his 
Father's  face  which  forced  from  the  Man  of  Sorrow  the 
only  complaint  that  ever  broke  from  his  lips,  "  My  God ! 
my  God !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me !"  his  heart  burst 
asunder  in  the  midst  of  his  bowels,  and  instantly  he 
ceased  to  live.  If  it  cost  the  Son  thus  much  to  endure, 
imagine  what  it  must  have  cost  the  Father  to  conceal  his 
face.  O  my  brethren  !  unless  bewildered  by  false  lights 
of  Scripture  rather  than  of  reason,  we  are  now  adrift 
upon  a  silent  sea  of  sorrow,  boundless,  fathomless,  vast 
as  the  infinite  God.  Words  could  not  be  more  expressive, 
and  yet  we  but  mock  our  feelings  when  we  say  that  "  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son." 


132  AMAZING  LOVE. 

Two  or  three  brief  reflections  and  we  resign  this  op- 
pressive theme,  too  vast,  too  mysterious,  too  deeply  sol- 
emn for  an  angel's  thought  or  a  seraph's  tongue.  I  see 
now  better  than  I  ever  did  what  must  be  the  meaning  of 
the  words,  "  The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost."  I  understand  better  than  I 
ever  did  what  joy  there  must  be  in  the  presence  of  the 
angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.  Nor  did 
I  ever  comprehend  so  well  before  what  Jesus  meant 
when  he  told  of  a  father  who  ran  and  fell  on  the  neck  of 
his  prodigal  son  and  kissed  him.  My  soul  stands  amazed 
at  the  length,  and  breadth,  and  depth,  and  heighth  of  the 
love  of  God,  and  owns  it  past  finding  out. 

I  am  drawn  into  sympathy  with  God.  I  bear  his 
image,  intellectual  as  well  as  moral.  I  am  a  feeble  tran- 
script of  the  divine  mind.  God  thinks,  and  feels,  and 
suffers  for  my  sake ;  then,  wherefore  should  not  I  for 
him.  He  is  one  of  my  kind,  only  infinitely  above  my- 
self. I  am  overwhelmed  with  the  thought  that  when  I 
do  wrong  God  suffers — suffers  as  only  a  father  can  suffer 
for  his  child.  What  suffering  is  like  wounded  love  ?  and 
what  love  can  suffer  like  that  which  gave  an  only  begotten 
Son  ?  My  heart  is  touched,  and  I  say,  "  O  thou  blessed 
God,  was  not  the  cross,  then,  all,  but  dost  thou  even  now 
look  down  and  sorrow  after  me  that  I  so  often  disobey 
thy  commandments  ?  I  desire  to  do  thy  will,  and  from 
henceforth  with  all  my  heart  I  will  strive  to  do  it.  I 
suffer,  and  I  feel  that  thou  sufferest  in  sympathy  with  me, 
and  wilt  ever  suffer  while  I  sin."  The  Father  will  not 
cease  to  sorrow  till  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  the  children 


AMAZING  LOVE.  133 

shall  have  an  end.  But  now  comes  a  thought  that  makes 
me  sing,  Alleluia !  The  vast  universe  is  struggling  on 
through  sin  and  pain  up  to  perfection.  The  grand  result 
of  God's  suffering  love  will  be  to  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil,  and  remove  the  curse  and  make  all  things  new. 
Then  the  sufferings  of  the  Father  and  the  children  shall 
end  together.  That  will  be  the  bridal  day  of  creation, 
the  beginning  both  for  the  Creator  and  the  creature  of 
perfect  and  everlasting  joy.  "  Fly  swiftly  round,  ye 
wheels  of  time,  and  bring  the  promised  day,"  when  the 
sins  and  sufferings  of  the  children  being  ended,  grief 
shall  vex  no  more  the  Father's  heart,  but  the  Father  and 
the  children  rejoice  together  that  the  ages  of  perfect  hap- 
piness are  now  at  last  begun,  henceforth  to  roll  on  with- 
out pause  or  close. 

My  conception  of  humanity  is  vastly  augmented.  That 
surely  is  worth  something  which  is  in  the  image  of  God 
and  for  which  God  is  concerned  so  much.  Man  is  but 
an  inferior  God  and  fallen.  "  Upon  the  wrecks  of  his 
being  there  lingers  still  a  strange  light  of  divinity."  What 
man  can  tell  the  worth  of  his  immortal  nature  ?  Let  us 
infer  it  from  what  God  has  done  to  save  it.  Shall  such 
labor  and  such  love  be  lost  ?  He  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son  that  "  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish , 
but  have  everlasting  life."  Though  he  had  promised  no 
reward,  yet  who  could  long  hold  out  against  such  love  ? 
O  thou  blessed  God,  make  all  thy  goodness  to  pass  be- 
fore us  now,  and  "  fill  our  hearts  with  sacred  grief  and 
penitential  pain."  "  Love  so  amazing,  so  divine,  demands 
our  souls,  our  life,  our  all."  To  withhold  it  longer  is  to 


134  THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES. 

cause  the  heart  of  God  to  grieve.  O  then,  impenitent 
man,  at  last  relent !  Fall  at  his  feet  and  say,  "  I  yield,  I 
yield,  by  dying  love  compelled."  End  thy  Father's  grief 
and  thine  by  coming  back  to  him.  No  doubt  he  waits 
thy  coming,  and  will  receive  thee  with  open  arms.  His 
house  will  resound  with  merriment,  and  he  will  say: 
"  This,  my  son,  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again ;  was  lost 
and  is  found." 


VIII. 
THE    LAW    OF    SACRIFICES. 

BY  REV.  M.  B.  CHAPMAN, 
Of  the  Missouri    Conference. 


"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world  !  " — JOHN  i.  29. 

"  I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that 
ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable,  unto  God, 
which  is  your  reasonable  service." — ROM.  xii.  I. 

Sacrifices  and  oblations  are  as  old  as  the  human  race. 
As  we  travel  through  the  nations,  our  feet  can  nowhere 
reach  a  region  where  offerings  of  some  character  are  not 
found.  We  hear  the  cry  constantly  coming  from  the 
great  heart  of  humanity,  "  What  is  the  acceptable  sacri- 
fice?" The  most  beautiful  flowers  of  the  earth  and  the 


THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES.  135 

choicest  fruits  of  the  field  ;  strange  divinations  and  stream- 
ing altars ;  hecatombs  of  slaughtered  animals  and  rivers 
of  human  blood  flowing  through  the  temples  of  heathen 
idolatry ;  cakes  for  the  queen  of  heaven  and  prostrations 
before  the  brazen  image;  children  passing  through  the 
fire  for  the  insatiable  Moloch,  and  the  "  fruit  of  the  body 
given  for  the  sin  of  the  soul " — these  are  the  responses 
from  classical  and  pagan  nations.  The  altars  of  blood 
in  the  dark  forests  of  America,  Indian  self-torture  and 
mutilation,  African  fetichism,  Hindoo  immolations,  and 
the  atrocities  of  savage  cannibalism — these  are  the  hol- 
low answers  from  the  untutored  consciences  of  heathens. 
Then  the  voice  of  a  Divine  Revelation  is  heard,  and  its 
authoritative  commands  are,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  6f  God, 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ! "  "  Present 
your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto 
God." 

These  declarations  unfold  to  us  two  great  principles 
which  form  the  foundation  of  God's  revelation  to  man, 
and  give  the  true  idea  of  sacrifices.  They  constitute  a 
divine  answer  to  the  great  question  of  all  ages  and  all 
nations.  By  a  sacrifice  of  blood,  atonement  for  sin 
must  be  made ;  and  then  the  accepted  man  must  give 
himself  to  God.  The  law  called  the  one  a  burnt- 
offering,  and  the  other  a  meat-offering ;  the  Gospel  calls 
the  one  faith  in  the  death  of  the  Lamb  of  God  for  the 
sins  of  the  world,  and  the  other  a  dedication  of  self  in 
acts  of  love  to  the  service  of  God. 

The  entire  system  of  Revelation  is  harmonious,  and 
hence  we  find  these  two  forms  of  sacrifice  reaching  back 


136  THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES. 

to  the  very  gate  of  Eden.  The  altar  of  blood,  whereon 
lay  the  burnt-offering,  was  doubtless  erected  ere  yet  the 
flaming  sword  had  ceased  to  flash  its  sheet  of  fire  on 
every  side,  thus  showing  in  type  that  that  barred-up  way 
of  access  to  the  Tree  of  Life  was  to  be  opened  by  the 
blood  of  the  bruised  seed  of  the  woman.  And  to  another 
altar  the  first  pardoned  sinner  brought  the  first  fruits  of 
that  bread  won  from  the  ground  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow, 
as  a  dedicatory  offering  typifying  his  entire  surrender  of 
himself  to  the  service  of  his  Maker. 

These  principles  formed  the  ground  of  the  distinction 
between  the  sacrifices  of  Cain  and  Abel.  Abel  was  an 
humble  believer  in  the  Atonement  to  be  made  by  the 
tuture  "  Seed  of  the  woman,"  and  hence,  confessing  him- 
self a  sinner,  he  first  brings  a  lamb  as  a  type  of  the  Re- 
deemer, and  slays  it  as  a  burnt-offering.  Afterward, 
having  become  justified  through  this  act  of  faith,  he 
doubtless  made  a  meat-offering  to  God.*  But  Cain  was 
a  rejecter  of  the  Atonement,  and  sought  to  present  him  • 
self  to  God  as  if  he  was  under  no  curse  that  needed 
blood  to  wash  his  sins  away.  He  brought  only  the  meat- 
offering, and  sought  to  be  accepted  through  his  holiness 
or  good  works.  There  was  no  confession  of  sin,  no  ac- 
knowledgment of  guilt  deserving  death,  no  plea  for  for- 
giveness through  the  shedding  of  blood,  no  exercise  of 
faith  in  a  Divine  antitype.  And  because  his  offering  of 
first  fruits  was  not  thus  founded  upon  a  slain  lamb  pre- 
viously offered,  God  did  not  accept  his  sacrifice. 

The  adumbrations  of  antediluvian  worship  become  the 

*   "  God  testifying  of  his  gifts." — HEB.  xi.  4. 


THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES.  137 

well-defined  shadows  of  the  Levitical  ritual.     Under  the 

• 

law  of  Moses  there  were  two  great  classes  of  sacrifices — 
those  with,  and  those  without  blood.  The  burnt-offering 
was  the  most  important  and  significant  of  the  one,  the 
meat-offering  of  the  other.  Imagine  yourself  with  the 
host  of  Israel  as  these  two  important  sacrifices  are  offered, 
and  you  will  be  able  to  form  a  lively  appreciation  of  all 
that  was  intended  and  typified  by  them.  The  whole 
congregation  is  assembled  within  that  vast  enclosure, 
while  in  the  midst  is  the  smoking  altar,  beside  which 
stand  the  priests  in  their  official  garb.  An  offerer  ap- 
proaches with  his  victim,  a  young  lamb,  carefully  selected 
from  a  select  portion  of  a  select  kind.  He  solemnly  lays 
his  hand  upon  its  head,  thus  showing  the  transfer  to  it  of 
his  own  sins;  leans  upon  it,  thus  figuring  trust  or  reli- 
ance, and  then  the  animal  is  slain  in  his  stead — the  inno- 
cent for  the  guilty.  The  priest  then  takes  the  blood  and 
sprinkles  it  around  the  altar,  as  a  sign  of  the  bestowal  of 
pardon.  The  whole  transaction  means  confession  of 
sin,  faith  in  the  merits  of  vicarious  suffering  and  death, 
and  pardon  through  an  atonement. 

And  now  that  he  has  offered  his  burnt-sacrifice,  and  ob- 
tained forgiveness  through  faith  in  the  promised  Redeemer, 
typified  by  the  lamb,  he  is  prepared  to  make  his  meat- 
offering, and  thus  dedicate  himself  to  God.  This  consists 
ot  fine  flour,  frankincense  and  oil,  which  represent  his 
person  and  property — all  that  he  is  and  all  that  he  has. 
He  brings  it  to  the  altar  and  gives  it  to  the  priest,  thus 
acknowledging  himself  to  be  the  Lord's,  and  it  is  burnt  as 

"  an  offering  made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savor  unto  the  Lord." 
10 


*38  THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  see  the  significance  of  the 
two  passages  before  us.  When  John  said  to  his  Jewish 
audience,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world  ! "  the  image  of  a  smoking 
altar,  a  bleeding  victim,  sprinkled  blood,  and  guilt  thus 
expiated,  rose  before  them,  and  knowing  what  all  that 
typified,  they  beheld  in  Jesus  the  promised  Messiah — the 
Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  But 
when  Paul  said  to  the  church  at  Rome,  "  I  beseech  you, 
therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye 
present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable 
unto  God,"  considering  them  already  justified  by  faith 
in  that  Lamb  who  was  manifested  to  take  away  their 
sins,  he  had  in  his  mind  the  Jewish  meat-offering,  and 
was  urging  them  to  an  entire  consecration  to  the  service 
of  God. 

From  these  two  passages  thus  collocated  we  arrive  at 
two  great  fundamental  truths  of  our  religion:  (i.)  The 
burnt-offering,  faith  in  Christ,  must  always  precede  the 
meat-offering,  consecration  of  self  in  words  or  works,  or 
the  latter  will  be  utterly  worthless  and  unacceptable  to 
God.  (2.)  When  the  first  has  been  accomplished,  God 
commands  the  second. 

I.  The  shadow  has  now  given  way  to  the  substance, 
the  type  to  the  antitype.  The  altar,  the  sacrificial 
flames,  the  slain  lamb,  the  officiating  priest,  have  dis- 
appeared before  the  Cross,  the  picture  of  the  suffering 
Just  One,  "  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world."  The  smoke  of  the  morning  and 
evening  sacrifice  no  longer  ascends  from  the  midst  of 


THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES.  139 

the  camp  of  Israel,  for  "  This  man  after  he  had 
offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  forever,  sat  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  God." 

The  grand  truth,  the  greatest  the  world  has  ever 
known,  cannot  be  too  often  reiterated,  that  there  is 
salvation  only  by  Christ.  The  only  road  ^to  heaven 
leads  by  the  Cross ;  there  is  no  escape  from  hell  save  by 
the  blood-besprinkled  way.  Those  who  attempt  to 
travel  to  heaven  over  a  road  strewn  with  the  palm- 
branches  of  good  feelings  and  deeds  of  self-denial, 
though  it 'may  be  watered  with  tears,  will,  like  Cain,  be 
rejected  as  despisers  of  the  great  sacrifice  made  for  sin. 
Faith  is  the  only  absolute  condition  of  justification,  and 
those  who  substitute  for  it  morality,  good  works,  pen- 
ance, church  ordinances,  or  aught  else,  however  good  or 
necessary  in  itself,  are  bringing  to  God  their  meat-offer- 
ing before  their  hearts  have  been  cleansed  by  the  blood 
of  the  great  burnt-offering. 

There  is  a  system  of  morals  abroad  in  the  world  at 
the  present  day,  called  by  some  religion,  which  consists 
only  in  meat-offerings.  It  tramples  the  blood  of  Christ 
under  foot  as  an  unworthy  thing,  and  virtually  denies 
the  efficacy  of  the  Atonement.  It  has  reared  again  the 
altar  where  the  hand  of  God  planted  the  Cross;  it 
listens  to  the  thunder  of  Sinai  rather  than  to  the  voice 
of  love  that  comes  from  Calvary ;  it  turns  from  "  the 
Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world," 
and  looks  to  outward  ceremonies  and  ordinances  to 
purify  the  heart  and  save  the  soul.  Oh,  that  the  words 
which  stirred  the  soul  of  the  poor  Augustinian  monk,  as' 


14°  THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES. 

he  was  climbing  Pilate's  stairway  on  his  knees,  might 
again  be  reverberated  through  the  world,  and  the  church 
learn  afresh  the  truth,  that  "  the  just  shall  live  by  faith." 
Krurnmacher  gives  us  an  incident  which  well  illustrates 
this  important  subject.  A  certain  minister,  noted  for  his 
zeal  and  earnestness,  but  who  had  never  been  very  suc- 
cessful in  winning  souls,  was  on  one  occasion  preaching 
from  this  subject,  "  A  new  creature  in  Christ  or  eternal 
condemnation."  During  the  sermon  this  question 
forced  itself  upon  the  conscience  of  one  of  his  hearers, 
"  How  is  it  with  myself  ?  Does  this  man  declare  the 
real  truth  ?  If  he  does,  what  must  inevitably  follow 
from  it  ?  "  This  thought  took  such  hold  upon  him  that 
he  could  not  shake  it  off,  and  day  after  day  it  became 
more  and  more  troublesome,  until  finally  he  determined 
to  go  to  the  preacher  himself  and  ask  him,  upon  his 
conscience,  if  he  really  believed  what  he  had  lately 
preached?  He  carried  out  his  intention,  and  the 
preacher,  much  astonished,  assured  him  with  great 
earnestness  that  he  had  spoken  the  Word  of  God,  and 
consequently  infallible  truth.  "  What  then  is  to  become 
of  us  ?  "  replied  the  visitor.  His  last  word,  us,  startled 
the  preacher;  but  he  rallied  his  thoughts  and  began  to 
explain  the  plan  of  salvation  to  the  inquirer,  and  to 
exhort  him  to  repent  and  believe.  But  the  latter,  as 
though  he  had  not  heard  one  syllable  of  what  the 
preacher  said,  repeated  with  increasing  emotion  the 
anxious  exclamation,  "  If  it  be  truth,  sir,  I  beseech  you, 
what  are  we  to  do  ?  "  Terrified,  the  preacher  staggered 
back.  "  We,"  thought  he.  "What  means  this  we  ?  " 


THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES.  141 

And  endeavoring  to  stifle  his  inward  uneasiness  and  em- 
barrassment, he  resumed  his  exhortations  and  advice. 
Tears  came  into  the  eyes  of  the  visitor ;  he  smote  his 
hands  together  like  one  in  despair,  and  exclaimed  in  an 
accent  which  might  have  moved  a  heart  of  stone,  "  Sir, 
if  it  be  truth,  we  are  lost  and  undone  !  "  The  preacher 
stood  for  a  moment,  pale,  trembling  and  speechless. 
Then,  overwhelmed  with  emotion,  with  downcast  eyes 
and  convulsive  sobbing,  he  cried,  "  Friend,  down  on 
your  knees ;  let  us  pray  and  cry  for  mercy  !  "  They 
knelt  down  and  prayed,  and  shortly  afterward  the 
visitor  took  his  leave.  The  preacher  shut  himself  up  in 
his  closet.  Next  Sunday  word  was  sent  that  the 
preacher  was  not  well,  and  could  not  appear.  The 
same  thing  happened  the  Sunday  following.  But  on  the 
third  Sabbath  he  made  his  appearance  before  his  con- 
gregation, worn  and  pale  with  his  recent  conflict,  but 
his  eyes  beaming  with  joy,  and  commenced  his  discourse 
with  the  surprising  and  affecting  declaration,  that  he  had 
now  for  the  first  time  passed  through  the  strait  gate. 
And  his  new  experience  gave  him  a  power  which  he  had 
never  before  possessed,  for  now  God,  accepting  his 
labors  and  prayers,  granted  him  many  seals  to  his 
ministry. 

There  are  many  men  in  the  Church  of  God  to-day, 
serving  at  her  altar  and  worshiping  in  her  temples,  who 
have  never  felt  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who 
are  depending  for  salvation  wholly  on  the  fact  that  their 
lives  are  in  conformity  with  certain  church  regulations,  and 
that  there  is  a  semblance  of  good  works  in  some  of  their 


142  THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES. 

actions.  Herein  lies  the  secret  of  an  unfruitful  ministry 
and  a  lifeless  church.  Brethren,  'examine  yourselves  and 
see  whether  or  not  you  are  in  the  faith.  Have  you  a 
rich  Christian  experience  ?  Have  you  found  peace  in 
believing  ?  Has  your  heart  been  purified  by  the  sprinkled 
blood  of  the  slain  Lamb  ?  If  not,  leave  your  gifts  be  - 
fore  the  altar,  and  rest  not  day  nor  night  until  you  realize 
that  "  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all 
sin." 

II.  When  the  burnt  sacrifice  has  been  offered,  then  a 
meat-offering  must  be  made. 

The  Jewish  meat-offering  was  presented  daily,  along 
with  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice,  teaching  us  that 
we  are  to  consecrate  all  that  we  have  to  the  Lord's  use, 
not  at  irregular  intervals,  as  impulse  or  expediency  would 
dictate,  but  daily.  When  the- soul  has  been  accepted  in 
Christ,  and  the  pardon  of  sins  experienced  through  the 
Holy  Ghost,  then  we  are  to  bring  our  bodies — all  that 
we  have  and  all  that  we  are — "  a  living  sacrifice,  holy, 
acceptable  unto  God." 

The  Church  of  God  needs  to-day,  more  than  ever  be- 
fore, a  consecrated  membership  to  worship  at  her  altars, 
a  consecrated  ministry  to  stand  in  her  holy  places.  The 
powers  of  darkness  are  being  marshalled  for  a  con- 
flict severe  beyond  precedence.  A  bold  and  irreverent 
materialism  would  rob  Christianity  of  her  holiest  and 
most  precious  truths.  Infidelity,  wise  above  that  which 
is  written,  is  seeking  to  array  the  creature  against  the 
Creator,  nature  against  nature's  God,  science  against  the 
Bible.  Crime  ho  longer  waits  for  the  midnight  hour  to 


THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES.  143 

steal  forth  covertly  from  her  hiding  place,  but  in  the 
broad  glare  of  the  sun  she  flaunts  herself  before  the  eyes 
of  all  men.  Wickedness  and  corruption  in  high  places 
have  ceased  to  be  exceptional.  It  is  an  age  of  com- 
promises, which  seeks  to  obliterate  the  old  landmarks,  to 
bend  creed  to  practice,  to  bring  the  Church  into  conform- 
ity with  the  world.  If  these  be  some  of  the  character- 
istics of  the  times  upon  which  we  have  fallen,  how  all- 
important  it  is  that  a  spirit  of  deeper  consecration  should 
come  upon  the  entire  Church  ! 

It  was  a  custom  of  the  Middle  Ages  for  a  page,  before 
he  was  dubbed  a  knight,  to  enter  a  temple  dedicated  to 
the  Most  High,  and,  reverently  approaching  the  altar,  to 
lay  thereon  his  sword  and  his  shield.  Then  a  white- 
robed  priest  came  forward,  and  solemnly  consecrating 
the  weapons  to  the  cause  of  truth,  of  innocence,  and  of 
virtue,  invoked  the  blessing  of  God  upon  them  and  upon 
him  who  should  bear  them.  The  Middle  Ages,  with 
their  knights,  their  chivalry,  their  Damascus  blades,  and 
their  shields,  have  gone,  but  a  similar  duty  devolves  upon 
every  one.  Let  Christian  hearts  bow  before  the  altar  of 
God,  and,  with  solemn  vows,  consecrate  all  they  have 
and  are  to  his  service  and  glory.  And  then  a  thousand 
attendant  angels,  clad  in  the  garments  of  immortality, 
shall  surround  us,  as  Christ,  our  great  High  Priest,  blesses 
us,  and  dedicates  us  by  the  influx  of  new  powers,  new 
wisdom,  and  new  strength,  to  the  grander,  the  holier,  and 
the  sublimer  purposes  of  human  life. 

Has  God  blessed  you  with  high  intellectual  endow- 
ments, with  commanding  mental  powers,  so  that  at  your 


144  THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES. 

talismanic  touch  nature  opens  her  arcana  and  reveals  her 
secret  treasures;  so  that  your  soul  exults  in  discovering 
"those  immemorial  truths  which  wander  through  the 
ages,"  in  traversing  the  vast  empyrean  of  thought,  ever 
rising  to  loftier  heights  and  fairer  scenes  ?  God  com- 
mands you  to  dedicate  all  these  rich  and  glorious  gifts  to 
him,  to  consecrate  to  his  service  these  powers  of  mind. 
Let  your  thought  exult  in  discovering  the  infinite  things  of 
God,  and  as  it  rises  to  the  magnificent  conception  of  an 
eternal  and  omnipotent  Being,  administering  the  affairs 
of  a  universe,  and  views  the  vast  exhibitions  of  divine 
wisdom  and  love,  and  comprehends  the  stupendous 
sweep  of  the  spiritual  and  the  material,  let  the  world  be 
blessed,  and  humanity  exalted,  and  God  glorified  through 
your  imperial  mind. 

Has  God  given  you  influence  and  power  in  the  world, 
and  do  men  vow  fealty  to  you  ?  Is  it  as  though  a  thou- 
sand telegraphic  wires  met  where  you  could  touch  them, 
and  with  each  volition  you  could  send  abroad  an  influ- 
ence that  would  reach  thousands  of  beings,  while  every 
pulsation  of  your  heart  or  movement  of  your  mind  mod- 
ified the  pulsations  of  other  hearts  and  the  movements  of 
other  intellects  ?  Use  all  this  for  God,  and  let  that  mag- 
netic influence  draw  immortal  souls  toward  heaven.  That 
power,  if  exerted  for  good,  is  a  mighty  weapon  which 
may  prove  effectual  in  tearing  down  the  strongholds  of 
Satan  and  leading  the  armies  of  God  on  to  victory. 
It  was  a  mighty  power  that  was  latent  in  steam 
until  Watt  evoked  its  spirit  from  the  waters  and  set 
the  giant  to  turning  the  iron  arms  of  machinery.  It 


THE  LAW  OF  SACRIFICES.  145 

was  a  mighty  power  that  was  latent  in  the  skies  until  sci- 
ence climbed  their  heights,  and  seizing  the  spirit  of  the 
thunder,  chained  it  to  our  surface,  abolishing  distance, 
outstripping  the  wind,  and  flashing  our  thoughts  across 
rolling  seas  to  distant  continents.  But  a  far  mightier 
power  than  these  is  the  power  of  a  life  devoted  to  good 
and  great  purposes — moral  power  consecrated  to  God 
and  used  for  heaven. 

Has  God  given  you  wealth  ?  Is  there  a  Midas  touch 
conferred  upon  you,  and  are  the  guardian  genii  who  pre- 
side over  the  hidden  treasures  of  this  world  the  servants 
of  your  pleasure  ?  Are  your  storehouses  full,  your  cof- 
fers overflowing,  your  homes  filled  with  luxury  and  sur- 
rounded by  elegance  ?  You  have  been  invested  with 
weighty  responsibilities,  and  God  has  but  made  you  his 
steward  in  the  proper  disbursement  of  these  riches.  Lay 
your  wealth  upon  his  altar,  and  let  earthly  accumulation 
buy  heavenly  treasures,  that  you  may  not  only  be  rich  in 
this  world's  treasures,  but  also  rich  toward  God. 

But  it  may  be  that  none  of  these  gifts  are  yours ;  that 
you  have  but  the  one  small  talent,  for  God  has  left  none 
of  us  utterly  bankrupt.  It  is  as  much  our  duty  to  bring 
the  single  talent  as  though  we  had  ten.  God  will  not 
despise  the  day  of  small  things.  The  eye  that  notes  the 
falling  sparrow  and  numbers  the  hairs  of  your  head  will 
not  overlook  the  smallest  offering  of  his  weakest  creature. 

Being  then  "  sanctified  through  the  offering  of  the 
body  of  Jesus  Christ,  once  for  all,"  let  us,  brethren, 
"  present  our  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable 
unto  God."  Come,  Lord,  and  accept  the  offering! 


I  X. 
MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

BY  REV.  J.  P.  NOLAN, 
Of  the    Missouri    Conference. 


"  But  when  He  saw  the  multitudes,  He  was  moved  with  com- 
passion on  them,  because  they  fainted,  and  were  scattered  abroad, 
as  having  no  shepherd. 

"Then  saith  He  unto  His  disciples,  The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous, 
but  the  laborers  are  few;  pray  ye,  therefore,  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  He  will  send  forth  laborers  into  His  harvest." — MATT.  ix. 
36-38. 

This  passage,  that  tells  how  Jesus  was  moved  with 
compassion  when  he  saw  the  multitudes  fainting  and 
scattered  abroad,  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd,  while  it 
leads  us  at  once  to  the  idea  of  his  mission,  it  also  reveals 
the  place  which  preaching  has  in  connection  with  the 
Church  and  the  religious  life  of  the  world. 

The  ministry  of  Christ,  in  its  lower  form,  shows  him  to 
have  been  the  first  of  philanthropists.  While  preaching 
the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  in  all  the  cities  and  villages 
whithersoever  he  went,  the  number  who  received  healing 
at  his  hands  is  indicated  by  the  statement,  that  "  they 
brought  unto  him  all  sick  people  that  were  taken  with 
divers  diseases  and  torments,  and  those  which  were  pos- 
sessed with  devils,  and  those  which  were  lunatic,  and 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  14? 

those  that  had  the  palsy,  and  he  healed  them  all."  So 
that  we  are  not  surprised  that  St.  Matthew  says  in  the 
next  verse  (iv.  25),  "And  there  followed  him  great  mul- 
titudes of  people  from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jerusalem, 
and  from  Judea,  and  from  beyond  Jordan."  And  now 
in  the  text  we  are  told  that  with  these  multitudes  before 
him,  whose  bodies  and  minds,  too,  had  shared  so  largely 
in  his  beneficence,  he  turns  to  his  disciples  and  says  (for 
such  is  the  spiritual  import  of  the  occasion)  :  "  You  all 
see  the  pitiable  condition  of  these  poor  people — many  of 
them  diseased  and  maimed  in  body,  others  possessed 
with  devils  and  demented,  all  of  them  distressed  wfth 
faintness,  and  scattered  abroad  without  teachers,  and 
,  with  none  to  bless  and  take  care  of  them.  And  you  also 
see  how  I  have  had  compassion  on  them  and  healed 
them  all.  Now  here  are  two  lessons  I  would  have  you 
learn — First,  the  bodily  and  temporal  condition  of  these 
multitudes  is  a  sensible  illustration  to  you  of  their  far 
greater  spiritual  infirmities  and  wretchedness.  Second, 
as  I  have  had  compassion  and  have  cured  them  of  what- 
soever disease  they  had,  so  do  I  propose,  by  giving  my 
life  for  the  people,  to  save  them  eternally  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven;  and  yo;i  are  also  to  turn  toward  your  fellow- 
men  in  compassion,  as  you  have  seen  me  do,  and  be  my 
witnesses  of  these  things,  to  the  intent  that  all  may  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  be  saved  from  their 
sins." 

Such  was  the  mission  of  Jesus.  And  through  the 
whole  of  his  public  ministry  he  sanctified  preaching  by 
making  it  the  method  of  publishing  to  us  sinners  that 


148  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

"  he  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." 
From  the  Mount  of  Ascension  he  gave,  as  his  last  com- 
mission to  his  disciples  to  establish  and  consolidate  his 
kingdom,  the  well-known  injunction,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  That 
was  to  be  the  lever  by  which  the  world  should  be  turned 
upside  down.  No  instrument  is  so  powerful  as  the 
"  foolishness  of  preaching  ; "  and  the  Master  himself  has 
ordained  this  institution  to  the  end  of  time  as  the  chief 
agency  in  the  world's  conversion. 

However  powerful  the  press,  through  good  books,  the 
religious  periodical,  and  the  weekly  Church  paper,  preach- 
ing doth  far  surpass  it  as  a  means  of  "  calling  sinners  to 
repentance."  St.  Paul's  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  was 
not  so  much  to  administer  the  sacraments,  nor  to  bear 
rule  in  the  Church,  but  the  rather  "  to  preach."  (i  Cor. 
i.  17.)  His  labors  and  epistles  show  in  how  wide  a  sense 
he  understood  that  commission. 

The  great  times  of  restoring  doctrine,  and  of  renewing 
the  life  of  the  Church — the  times  of  the  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  when  many  "  turn  unto  the  Lord  " — 
have  been  distinguished  as  times  of  preaching.  And 
who  does  not  see  the  highest  wisdom  in  the  ordinance 
on  the  simple  principle  of  the  power  begotten  in  the 
sympathy  of  kindred  natures,  when  brought  into  contact 
through  the  living  voice  proclaiming  the  riches  of  God's 
mercy  toward  them  that  believe  ? 

Thankful  should  we  be  that  "  we  have  this  treasure  in 
earthen  vessels,"  and  not  by  "  the  ministration  of  angels," 
or  by  the  rising  of  "  one  from  the  dead." 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  149 

And  it  is  the  Gospel  which  is  to  be  the  great  subject  of 
their  preaching — not  science,  not  politics,  not  "  preach- 
ing to  the  day."  Moreover,  this  Gospel — of  facts  that 
never  grow  old,  of  truths  that  abide  with  an  eternal 
power — coming  to  every  man  of  this  age,  and  of  all  ages, 
as  "  a  savor  of  life  unto  life,"  is  to  be  preached,  not  in  the 
words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  teacheth.  (i  Cor.  ii.  13.) 

In  the  light  of  these  thoughts  we  can  easily  discover, 

I.  THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  MINISTRY.  —  To  stand  in 
Christ 's  stead  with  a  heart  of  love  and  pity  for  poor  sin- 
ners, and  show  them  "  the  ways  of  life." 

The  sacred  heart  of  Jesus  is  that  blessed  fountain  of 
»  mercy  which  would  fain  send  out  its  crimson  current 
until  the  souls  of  men,  touched  by  the  life-giving  stream, 
should  feel  the  inspiration  of  renewed  virtue,  and  shout 
with  conscious  joy  :  "In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  foun- 
tain opened  to  the  house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness."  (Zech.  xiii.  i.) 
"  Unto  him  that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  his  own  blood,"  etc.  (Rev.  v.  i.)  "  Feed  the  Church  of 
God  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood."  (Acts 
xx.  28.)  Since  "  Christ  loved  the  Church  and  gave  him- 
self for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it"  (Eph.  v. 
25-26),  so  ought  the  souls  of  men,  all  of  whom  are  con- 
ditionally saved,  and  by  construction  are  or  may  be  the 
Church  of  God,  the  Lord's  harvest — so  ought  these  souls, 
I  say,  to  be  precious  in  the  sight  of  God's  ministers,  and 
receive  such  loving  care  and  attention  as  Christ  himself 
would  give  them  if  he  were  again  on  the  earth. 


1 50  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

The  sympathy  of  our  Lord  for  the  miseries  of  man- 
kind was  so  sincere  an  affection  that  he  performed  the 
office  of  relieving  their  distresses  in  a  way  that  clearly 
showed  how  sensibly  he  entered  into  the  sorrows  of 
others.  And  among  the  great  number  of  miracles  he 
wrought  it  is  instructive  to  see  how  many  were  miracles 
of  healing.  But  Jesus,  approached  by  a  woman  "  which 
was  a  sinner,"  while  he  sat  at  meat  in  Simon  the  Phari- 
see's house,  and  receiving  her  tears  and  kisses  on  his  feet, 
opens  his  tender,  gracious  heart  to  our  sinful  humanity 
when  he  says  to  her,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven,"  (St.  Luke 
vii.  36,)  as  scarcely  any  one  of  his  miracles  can  do. 

Thus  when,  in  imitation  of  Christ,  his  ministers  mani- 
fest compassion  for  the  wants  of  men,  it  is  a  lovely  grace, 
even  when  it  has  respect  only  to  the  temporal  needs  of 
mankind.  But  it  is  of  a  much  higher  stamp  when  pro- 
duced by  a  deep  sense  of  their  spiritual  wants,  and  seeks 
to  administer  relief  by  pointing  them  to  the  cross  of 
Christ.  Such  was  the  compassion  our  blessed  Lord  was 
moved  with  on  the  occasion  before  us,  and  which  he 
sought  to  inspire  in  the  hearts  of  his  disciples. 

The  special  end  of  the  ministry,  then,  is  not  the  crea- 
tion of  a  hierarchy  (i  Pet.  v.  3),  as  that  in  the  Roman 
Church ;  nor  that  the  office  should  be  made  subservient 
to  the  purposes  of  human  ambition,  with  high-sounding 
titles  and  princely  revenues  (St.  John  xiii.  16),  as  is  seen 
in  Churches  established  by  the  State ;  but,  in  the  simple 
words  ot  the  history  of  its  origin,  it  appears  as  a  vocation 
of  men  by  Christ  to  the  holy  work  of  rescuing  their  fellow- 
men  from  the  guilt  and  consequences  of  sin.  The  single 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  151 

and  Christly  aim  oi  the  minister  lies  right  on  the  face  of 
his  commission  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  From  this  commission  it 
is  plain  that  before  the  Master  was  the  spread  of  his 
saving  truth  by  chosen  agents  and  suitable  means.  And 
equally  evident  is  his  view  of  the  character  of  the  agents 
and  the  nature  of  the  means  to  be  employed. 

The  minister  must  be  self-denying,  holy,  and  a  lover  of 
the  souls  of  men.  And  the  real  power  of  the  Gospel 
will  appear,  as  in  the  olden  time,  the  closer  we  get  to  the 
apostolic  way  of  preaching  it. 

St.  Paul  took  as  his  subject  the  central  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  "Jesus  and  the  Resurrection."  His  spirit  was 
that  of  a  heroic  self-abnegation :  "  Neither  count  I  my 
life  dear  unto  myself."  (Acts  xx.  24.)  His  love  for  his 
Jewish  brethren  (Rom.  ix.  1-3),  was  a  type  of  the  pas- 
sion he  had  for  all  men,  and  it  was  near  akin  to  that  of 
the  Savior.  How  great  was  his  sense  of  the  sinner's 
unhappy  condition.  (Rom.  ii.  9.)  What  an  instance  of 
ministerial  solicitude  in  the  words,  "  I  would  that  ye  knew 
what  great  conflict  I  have  for  you,  and  for  them  at 
Laodicea,  and  for  as  many  as  have  not  seen  my  face  in 
the  flesh."  (Col.  ii.  i;  see  2  Cor.  xi.  1-3.)  If  ministers 
would  only  keep  in  view  the  original  design  of  their 
sacred  calling — to  have  compassion  on  sinners,  and  go 
to  them,  as  Paul  did,  in  loving  sympathy  (i  Cor.  ix.  22), 
and  "  warn  every  one  night  and  day,  with  tears  "  (Acts 
xx.  31),  to  be  reconciled  to  God — what  mighty  results 
would  follow !  How  soon  we  should  behold  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end,  "  the  promised  day  of  Israel !  " 


152  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

But  the  passage  requires  that  we  consider  in  the  next 
place, 

II.  THE  NEED  OF  MORE  MINISTERS. — "  The  harvest 
is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few" 

The  harvest  plenteous — the  laborers  few  !  This  was 
the  infallible  judgment  of  the  Savior  "  in  the  days  of  his 
flesh."  More  truly  and  impressively  can  the  same  declara- 
tion be  made  to-day,  though  eighteen  hundred  years  and 
more  have  come  and  gone. 

In  the  roll  of  these  centuries  what  mighty  changes 
have  occurred  among  nations  and  peoples  ! 

The  Roman  Empire,  then  so  vast  and  dominant,  fell 
into  "  decline,"  was  overrun  and  dismembered  limb  by 
limb,  and  has  utterly  perished  as  a  nation.  The  Jewish 
people,  rejecting  the  Christ  of  their  own  Scriptures,  were 
peeled  and  scattered  over  all  the  earth,  and  live  as  a 
striking  and  perpetual  illustration  of  the  truth  of  prophesy 
and  the  sin  of  unbelief.  Mohammed,  the  false  prophet, 
of  wonderful  genius  and  character  for  conquest  and 
organization,  with  sword  and  torch,  founded  an  empire, 
political  and  religious,  embracing  portions  of  Europe, 
Africa  and  Asia,  that  has  continued  to  this  day.  The 
Czar  of  Russia  governs  a  realm  long  reckoned  among 
the  Great  Powers.  Great  Britain,  on  whose  territorial 
expanse  the  sun  never  sets,  and  which  may  still  be 
regarded  as  the  bulwark  of  our  Protestant  Christianity, 
was  a  Roman  province  of  barbarians  when  Jesus  de- 
livered the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  mighty  empire  of 
free  government  and  Christian  civilization  in  this  Western 
world,  stretching  from  ocean  to  ocean,  the  gathering 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  153 

place  of  the  nations,  now  rapidly  becoming  the  centre  of 
the  strongest  moral  and  spiritual  forces,  and  which, 
under  God,  we  trust,  shall  be  made  to  our  common 
humanity  the  hope  of  Freedom  and  Religion  from  the 
rising  to  the  setting  sun,  was  a  land  unpopulated  and 
unknown  while  the  disciples  tarried  in  Jerusalem  "  to  be 
endued  with  power  from  on  high."  The  man  who  sits, 
as  he  says,  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  whom  a  Council  in 
1870  voted  to  be  infallible!  and  who  erst  was  a  temporal 
prince,  governing  "  The  States  of  the  Church,"  and  not 
long  ago  was  wont  to  make  kings  and  potentates  tremble 
when  he  hurled  his  anathemas  at  them  from  the  Vatican, 
has  been  despoiled  of  "  The  States"  (the  poor  remains 
of  his  temporal  sway),  sees  his  windy  bulls  laughed  at  in 
every  land,  and  is  now  in  this  year  of  grace,  thank  God, 
a  much  altered  Pope  from  what  he  was.  Prussia,  through 
the  happy  results  of  two  recent  wars,  has  widened  the 
limits  of  her  rule;  and  Fatherland  rejoices  to  see  Kaiser 
William  reigning  in  peace  (and  cheering  hope  for  our 
Protestant  faith)  over  the  States  of  Germany,  united 
and  freer  than  ever  they  were  before.  Want  of  space 
will  not  allow  me  to  pursue  this  line  of  thought  further, 
nor  is  it  important.  Amid  all  these  changes  of  national 
limits  and  conditions,  of  the  falling  of  old  governments 
and  the  rising  of  new  ones — sometimes  where  none  had 
ever  existed — the  population  of  the  world  has  been 
steadily  increasing.  It  is  vastly  larger  now  than  at  the 
time  when  Jesus  uttered  the  words  of  the  text.  I  could 
wish  for  proper  statistics  at  hand  to  make  the  truth  of 
my  statement  sufficiently  impressive.  But  is  the  dispro- 


154  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

portion  between  the  extent  of  the  harvest  and  the  number 
of  the  laborers  as  great  now  as  when  the  Master  spoke 
of  the  need  of  more  laborers  ?  Certainly  not.  That 
was  the  day  of  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  dispensation. 

Will  it  not  be  argued  that  if  the  Church,  with  a  minis- 
try more  or  less  faithful  for  these  long  ages,  has  reached 
only  about  a  fourth  of  the  world's  population,  and  a 
large  part  of  that  but  nominally,  there  is  slight  hope  that 
Christianity  will  ever  become  the  religion  of  all  man- 
kind? This  cannot  be  said  if  the  real  facts  are  con- 
sidered— as  these :  (i.)  The  Church  is  made  the  agent, 
though  a  voluntary  one,  in  the  diffusion  of  the  Gospel. 
(2.)  None  but  moral  and  spiritual  means  can  or  should 
be  employed  in  bringing  men  to  Christ.  (3.)  Those  to 
whom  we  tell  the  story  of  the  Savior's  love  may  despise 
the  riches  of  his  mercy,  as  many  have  done  and  continue 
to  do. 

Greater  fidelity,  perhaps,  among  Christians,  a  pro- 
founder  conviction  in  the  Church  as  to  the  value  of 
"  the  foolishness  of  preaching,"  a  trustful  looking  to 
Christ  for  the  continued  fulfillment  of  his  promise  to 
send  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  who  would  reprove  the  world  of 
sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment,"  would  have 
preached  the  gospel  long  before  now,  and  preached  it 
successfully,  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth. 

Much  of  the  great  work  the  Church  has  in  hand  has 
been  already  accomplished.  She  is  learning  better  how 
to  do  what  remains  to  be  done.  The  problem  of  the 
world's  regeneration  is  not  so  complex  as  it  used  to  be. 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  155 

The  means  to  be  employed,  while  remaining  the  same  in 
kind,  have  been  multiplied  a  thousandfold.  If  men 
need  teachers  yet — and  they  do  and  will — I  think  they  are 
more  willing  to  be  instructed.  Difficulties  once  in  the 
way  have  been  removed.  Many  wrong  prejudices  have 
been  successfully  combated.  Superstitions,  that  once 
degraded  men  to  the  level  of  brutes,  have  disappeared 
before  the  advancing  light.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  too, 
that  among  Christians  generally  the  true,  essential  spirit 
of  our  holy  religion  is  much  better  understood.  We 
have  had  a  development  of  the  doctrine,  as  well  as  an 
unfolding  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Albeit  there  is 
nothing  among  us  materially  different  from,  or  more  than, 
the  perceptions  and  experience  of  a  few  of  the  wisest 
and  best  living  in  the  first  ages  of  the  New  Testament 
Church.  But  as  Christian  belief,  as  also  the  Christian  life 
that  it  begets,  is  a  growth,  when  we  look  at  the  entire 
body  of  believers,  there  has  been  growth — growth  in 
knowledge,  in  zeal,  in  charity ;  growth  in  the  conviction 
that  this  world  belongs  to  Christ,  and  shall  have  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  be  saved  by  that  gospel  if  it  will. 

The  last  century  has  witnessed  the  flaming  up  of  a 
missionary  zeal  like  that  of  Apostolic  times,  which  carried 
the  gospel  into  all  the  world  known  at  that  day.  With 
the  revival  of  the  spirit  of  evangelism  in  the  Church 
there  is  a  painful  discovery  of  the  insufficiency  of  the 
present  number  of  laborers  to  do  the  work.  The  harvest 
is  plenteous :  whether  we  look  at  the  domestic  fie.'d,  or 
lift  our  eyes  to  distant  lands,  the  harvest  is  abundant. 
(  Vide  St.  John  iv.  35.) 


156  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

From  one  cause  or  another,  the  peoples  heretofore 
inaccessible  can  now  be  approached. 

The  East  India  Company,  like  a  wedge,  by  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  has  opened  all  India  to  British  rule  and 
British  civilization ;  and  along  with  commerce  and  the 
love  of  gain  went  the  Gospel  more  than  fifty  years  ago, 
and  Christian  converts  to-day  in  that  country  are  counted 
by  thousands,  and  the  laborers,  both  foreign  and  native, 
are  hopefully  harvesting  in  the  valley  of  the  Indus, 
on  the  table-lands  of  Rohilcund,  and  at  the  foot  of 
the  Himalayas.  The  population  of  India  is  about 
240,000,000.  China,  a  colossal  empire,  ancient,  peculiar, 
self-contained,  bigoted  and  peaceful,  from  time  imme- 
morial was  quite  closely  shut  up  against  all  efforts  by 
Christian  missionaries,  but  within  the  present  generation 
has  thrown  open  its  principal  inlets,  and  Christianity,  by 
treaty  stipulations,  is  recognized,  and  the  liberty  of 
preaching  its  doctrines  guaranteed  by  the  government. 
What  a  magnificent  harvest-field  for  the  Church  !  With 
what  holy  ardor  should  the  heralds  of  the  Cross  long  to 
enter  that  land  where  one-third  of  the  earth's  inhabitants 
are  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge  !  What  an  army  of 
laborers  will  be  required  to  gather  so  vast  a  harvest  ! 

A  beginning  has  been  made.  Sixty  years  ago  Dr. 
Morrison  translated  the  Bible  into  the  Chinese  language. 
To  say  nothing  of  what  the  Papists  are  doing,  Protestant 
missionaries  of  nearly  every  name  have  kindled  a  light 
here  and  there  at  a  few  of  the  chief  centres,  that  shines 
with  an  increasing  blaze  upon  the  darkness  of  teeming 
millions. 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  157 

Japan,  with  a  population  of  forty  millions,  ingenious, 
imitative,  and  now  strangely  tolerant,  has  become  dis- 
satisfied with  its  ancient  civilization,  turns  to  Europe  and 
America,  willing  to  receive  the  improvements  of  Western 
art  and  science,  and  the  whole  country  is  literally  open 
to  the  advances  and  work  of  Christian  charity. 

These  three — India,  China  and  Japan — are  the  great 
objective  points  of  missionary  enterprise.  They  furnish 
fully  one-half  of  the  population  of  the  entire  globe.  We 
know  unbelief  will  shake  its  head  and  doubt  of  ever 
seeing  them  become  the  "  inheritance  "  of  our  Christ. 
They  are  covered  with  such  gross  darkness — are  so 
given  up  to  vile  affections,  "being  filled  with  all  un- 
righteousness, fornication,  and  wickedness."  But,  dear 
Christian  reader,  who  and  what  were  your  ancestors  at 
the  remove  of  only  a  few  generations  back  ?  Idolaters 
they  were — benighted,  sensual  and  devilish.  No  better 
than  these  heathen.  No  more  prepared  to  receive  the 
Gospel.  Somehow  you  have  been  won  to  Christ.  Nor 
is  the  Lord's  arm  shortened  that  it  cannot  lift  up  the 
poor  and  needy  as  of  old. 

Look  at  the  Sandwich  Islands!  In  the  beginning  of 
this  century  the  American  Board  sent  out  its  first  install- 
ment of  Christian  laborers.  Two  years  ago  the  mission- 
aries were  withdrawn — the  people,  once  so  lowly  and 
brutal,  having  received  a  written  language,  established 
schools  and  founded  a  constitutional  government;  and 
the  churches,  supplied  with  a  native  ministry,  able  to 
take  care  of  the  mental  and  spiritual  wants  of  the  popu- 
lation. 


158  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

Turn  your  eye  to  the  South  Pacific,  and  you  see  a 
multitude  of  Islands,  like  stars  in  the  midnight  sky, 
dotting  the  bosom  of  the  ocean.  There  our  brethren  of 
the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  have  been  harvesting, 
for  two  score  years.  What  are  the  results  ?  Cannibals 
have  been  turned  into  Christians — naked  savages  have 
clothed  themselves  with  the  garments  and  ways  of 
Christian  society — schools,  churches,  agriculture,  regu- 
lated government,  are  now  the  blessings  of  the  people. 
Lying  to  the  east  of  Africa  is  the  large  and  beautiful 
Island  of  Madagascar,  with  three  million  souls,  which 
in  the  last  decade  has  been  decisively  won  to  the  Cross, 
and  now  shines  as  a  permanent  star  in  the  diadem  of 
the  Savior. 

Is  our  holy  religion  true?  Let  it  be  judged  by  its 
fruits  in  Europe  and  America.  Does  it  give  sufficient 
promise  of  universal  extension  and  final  triumph  ?  O 
yes!  we  are  fully  persuaded  of  this  when  we  consider 
the  pledges  of  its  Author,  the  nature  of  its  doctrines, 
and  their  relation  to  the  wants  of  us  sinful  men.  No 
other  religion  can  be  universal,  for  it  alone  has  power  of 
God  to  be  for  the  salvation  of  men. 

St.  Paul,  rehearsing  the  story  of  his  conversion  in  the 
presence  of  King  Agrippa,  declared  how  Jesus  had  said 
to  him,  "  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to 
make  thee  a  minister,"  and  "  now  I  send  thee  unto  the 
Gentiles,  to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God,  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and 
nheritance  among  them  which  are  sanctified  by  faith 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  159 

that  is  in  me."  (Acts  xxvi.  16-18.)  Every  minister  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  going  forth  to  the  harvest  of  the  world, 
is  divinely  assured  that  these  blessed  signs  shall  follow  in 
them  that  believe. 

We  now  come  to  the  last  division  of  our  subject. 

III.  How  MORE  MINISTERS  ARE  TO  BE  OBTAINED. — 
"  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  would 
send  forth  laborers  into  his  han>est." 

Most  happily  for  us,  the  question,  How  may  a  needful 
supply  of  ministers  be  obtained  ?  has  been  answered  by 
the  Lord  himself,  and,  like  all  questions  of  deepest  im- 
port to  our  spiritual  life,  has  been  answered  plainly. 

Here  and  there  in  the  progress  of  his  ministry,  as  with- 
out design,  in  an  easy,  natural  way,  Christ  asserts  his 
divinity.  Abraham,  Moses,  David,  Elijah,  think  of  them- 
selves as  only  men.  Paul  and  Barnabas  (Acts  xiv.  8-19), 
when  the  Lystrans  "  would  have  done  sacrifice  "  unto 
them  for  healing  "  a  cripple  who  never  had  walked,  rent 
their  clothes  and  ran  in  among  the  people,  crying  out, 
Sirs,  why  do  ye  these  things  ?  We  also  are  men  of  like 
passions  with  you."  But  Jesus  of  Nazareth  quietly  re- 
ceives the  worship  of  the  disciples  and  many  others  as 
though  it  were  all  right.  He  works  divers  miracles  in 
their  presence,  but  with  no  more  effort  or  pretension  than 
they  would  have  shown  in  moving  their  hands  or  eating 
their  evening  meal.  He  had  already  spoken  of  himself 
as  Lord,  and  as  having  authority  to  open  or  shut  "  the 
kingdom  of  heaven "  to  men  (Matt.  vii.  21-24);  and 
consequently  in  the  text  he  calls  the  harvest  of  souls 
" his  harvest"  Whose  harvest  but  his  could  it  be  ?  Cre- 


160  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

ator  of  our  souls  (John  i.  i),  and  Savior  of  our  souls 
(Eph.  i.  17),  he,  and  he  alone,  is  "  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest." If  the  harvest  is  his  will  he  not  save  it  ?  Will  he 
not  provide  the  necessary  laborers  ?  Who  does  this  in 
any  case  but  the  owner  of  the  harvest  ? 

i .  A  call  to  the  sacred  work  of  the  ministry  is  from  the 
Lord,  He  reserves  to  himself  the  right  of  choosing  those 
who  are  "  to  preach  unto  the  people,"  and  "  to  feed  the 
church."  "  No  man  taketh  this  honor  to  himself,  but  he- 
that  is  called  of  God  as  was  Aaron.  (Heb.  v.  4.) 

So  the  apostle  testifies  as  to  himself,  "  It  pleased  God, 
who  separated  me  from  my  mother's  womb,  and  called 
me  by  his  grace,  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might 
preach  him  among  the  Gentiles."  (Gal.  i.  15,  16.) 

Men  will  sometimes  mistake  duty  and  intrude  them- 
selves into  this  ministry.  To  such  how  irksome  is  the 
toil  of  the  harvest !  How  few  the  sheaves  they  bring  in 
with  them  !  If  consciously  unsent  they  go  into  the  har- 
vest, it  is  a  great  presumption,  a  daring  adventure,  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  a  crime.  (See  Numb.  xvi.  1—36, 
and  2  Chron.  xxvi.  16—22.)  But  the  Lord  makes  no  mis- 
takes, whatever  we  may  think  about  it,  although  all  his 
laborers  are  not  careful  to  follow  the  wholesome  advice 
St.  Paul  gave  his  "son  in  the  gospel"  (2  Tim.  li.  15),  for 
preachers  may  lose  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience, 
and  fca.il  to  teach  themselves  while  they  teach  others. 
Some  of  those,  however,  that  we  think  unlearned,  and 
whose  "  bodily  presence  is  weak  and  their  speech  con- 
temptible," are  chosen  instruments,  and  precious  to  "  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest."  God  has  a  very  sovereign  way  in 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  161 

this  matter  of  calling  men  to  be  preachers.  But  we  should 
mistake  greatly  if  we  supposed  it  a  way  without  reason 
and  without  a  plan,  a  part  ot  which  he  has  shown  us. 

2.  Very  consistently  the  good  Lord  promises  to  be  with 
the  laborers  while  harvesting,  for  the  Great  Commission 
closes  with  the  words,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  to  the 
end  of  the  world."  This  means  :  (a)  He  will  grant  his 
comforting  and  guiding  presence  to  the  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  A  difficult  and  arduous  work  is  theirs.  The 
wisest  cannot  meet  the  responsibility  alone — this  care  of 
souls.  And  when  temptations  arise,  when  unlocked  for 
troubles  come,  when  perplexity,  sickness,  want,  distress, 
are  encountered,  what  shall  the  servant  do  without  the 
Master  ?  He  does  guide  and  comfort  the  harvesters.  Min- 
isterial biography,  from  the  letters  of  the  apostle  to  the 
journal  of  the  humblest  itinerant,  is  full  of  touching 
proofs  of  the  dear  Savior's  presence.  (b)  It  also  means 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  will  give  success  to  the  word.  "  Not 
by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord, 
shall  ye  prevail."  (Zech.  iv.  6.)  "  Our  word  came  in 
power  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  (i  Thess.  i.  5.)  Also  in 
Phil.  ii.  13,  "  It  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to  will 
and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure." 

"  The  Lord  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,"  by  which  she 
was  enabled  to  attend  to  the  apostle's  message,  and  un- 
derstand and  receive  it.  Unless  the  Holy  Spirit  breathe 
life  into  the  sermon,  and  apply  the  word  to  the  sinner's 
heart,  most  certainly  he  will  continue  to  sleep  and  be  as 
one  dead.  But  while  the  preacher's  dependence  on  the 


162  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

working  of  the  Spirit  is  thus  absolute,  he  has  definite  as- 
surance that  God  will  not  withhold  "  the  increase." 

This  success  may  not  always  be  in  the  quickening  of 
the  hearer  to  the  life  of  faith.  There  is  a  success  of  the 
word  in  testimony  against  sin — a  vindication  of  it  in  the 
punishment  of  evil  doers.  In  both  ways — in  the  justice 
and  in  the  grace — our  Thrice  Holy  Lord  reveals  himself 
to  angels  and  to  men.  Dear  reader,  may  we  behold  his 
milder  lace  in  the  Son  of  his  love ! 

"  O  Spirit  of  redeeming  love, 

Help  preach  the  reconciling  word ; 
Give  power  and  unction  from  above, 
Whene'er  the  joyful  sound  is  heard." 

3.  The  rate  of  ministerial  supply  is  conditioned  upon  our 
prayers.  Two  things  embarrass  me  just  here — the  im- 
portance of  this  article,  and  that  I  am  so  near  the  end  of 
the  sermon.  Many  no  doubt  have  wondered  at  the 
words,  "  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  would 
send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest."  If  he  understands 
the  wants  of  the  church  and  the  world,  if  none  can  or 
should  go  forth  without  his  commission,  if  he  exercises 
the  right  of  choosing  who  shall  be  ministers,  why  concern 
ourselves  about  the  matter  at  all  ?  This  is  the  old  objec- 
tion of  blind  unbelief  and  foolish  reasoning  against  prayer 
for  any  object.  Prayer  to  God  for  pardoning  mercy,  and 
for  all  other  things  promotive  of  our  well-being  and  happi- 
ness, can  be  easily  vindicated  by  reason  and  the  Scriptures. 
In  God's  goodness,  no  less  than  in  his  wisdom  and  sov- 
ereign pleasure,  prayer  and  blessing,  and  their  opposites 
as  well,  stand  connected,  like  cause  and  effect,  by  his  un- 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.  163 

changeable  counsel  and  decree.  This  arrangement  is  in 
the  interest  of  his  glory  and  our  happiness.  Who  should 
complain  if  all  richest  gifts  in  the  hands  of  our  Heavenly 
Father  wait  upon  our  asking  for  them  ?  Unprayerfulness 
explains  (and  justifies  as  to  God)  everything  in  the  sin- 
ner's condition.  A  backslidden,  umvorking,  ineffective 
church  at  any  time  results  from  not  having  continued  to 
look  to  God  in  prayer.  It  is  the  same  remark  to  say 
that  the  apparently  slow  subjugation  of  the  world  to 
Christ  is  largely  explained  in  the  too  great  want  of  prayer 
among  the  people  of  God,  and  especially  in  respect  of 
this  very  question  of  ministerial  supply.  How  deeply 
should  it  affect  our  minds  and  hearts  to  remember  that 
the  lack  of  ministers  in  number,  character,  and  efficiency, 
is  made  dependent  on  our  prayers  ?  O  let  us  consider 
our  great  responsibility  in  the  premises  !  At  this  very 
hour  the  openings  of  opportunity  for  preaching  the  gos- 
pel are  such  as  the  Church  never  witnessed.  In  almost 
all  the  world,  go  where  you  will,  the  ministers  of  Jesus 
may  preach  him  without  hindrance.  And  with  the  op- 
portunity there  is  abundance  of  means  in  the  hands  of 
the  Church — everything  in  fact  but  men,  and  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest  says,  "  Pray  for  these  and  I  will  send  them 
forth."  Shall  we  not  betake  ourselves  to  prayer  as  he 
directs — prayer  in  the  congregation,  in  the  family  circle, 
and  in  the  closet  ? 

"  On  thee,  O  Lord,  we  wait, 

Our  wants  are  in  thy  view ; 
The  harvest  truly  yet  is  great, 
The  laborers  are  few. 


164  MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST. 

"  Convert  and  send  forth  more 

Into  thy  Church  abroad, 
And  let  them  speak  thy  word  of  power, 
As  workers  with  their  God." 

A  thought  or  two  will  close  the  discussion.  Faith  and 
works  are  intimately  connected.  In  the  effort  sometimes 
to  answer  our  own  petitions  we  receive  the  blessing  we 
have  prayed  for.  We  pray  for  health,  friends,  success  in 
business,  and  we  try  to  shape  our  life  to  these  ends.  We 
seek  by  earnest  appeal  to  bring  some  one  to  Christ,  but 
the  effort  presupposes  prayer.  You  pray  that  God  would 
raise  up  more  ministers.  Why  not  try  to  answer  the 
prayer  by  offering  him  your  son  ?  I  know  the  pay  is 
poor  as  the  world  looks  at  it,  and  the  work  hard,  and 
much  of  it  right  against  the  grain  of  all  our  natural  in- 
clinations ;  but  if  your  son  has  good  parts  and  promises 
well,  the  Lord  has  need  of  such  and  may  like  to  use  him. 
The  consecration  of  our  children,  both  sons  and  daughters, 
to  God  to  be  employed  in  his  harvest,  if  he  pleases,  is  a 
part  of  the  prayer  we  make  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 
Some  pious  mother  is  drawn  out  in  prayer  for  the  same 
object,  and  her  little  Samuel  is  taken  to  the  temple.  St. 
Paul  must  have  received  an  early  consecration  by  prayer 
for  the  service  of  the  Church,  and  his  education  was 
directed  accordingly.  A  noble-hearted  layman,  or  an  in- 
dividual church,  seeing  the  greatness  of  the  harvest,  prays 
for  an  increase  of  laborers,  but  the  prayer  is  followed  by 
the  aid  which  helps  a  young  licentiate  through  the  college 
and  the  seminary.  Ministerial  aid  societies,  and  all  be- 
quests to  assist  young  men  to  prepare  for  the  ministry,  are 


MORE  LABORERS  IN  THE  HARVEST.          165 

endeavors  with  a  view  of  answering  our  prayers.  May 
we  not  expect,  too,  that  God  will*  always  look  chiefly 
among  the  children  of  his  people  for  the  laborers  he  wants  ? 
What  I  insist  upon  is,  that  we  shall  humbly  ask  the  Lord 
to  use  any  of  our  children,  all  of  them  if  he  will,  in  the 
holy  service  of  the  Church. 

The  noble  uses  of  ministerial  service,  and  the  sweetness 
of  ministerial  life,  are  eloquently  referred  to  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  late  address  of  the  most  widely  known 
of  American  preachers : 

"  Men  say  that  the  pulpit  has  run  its  career,  and  that 
it  is  but  a  little  time  before  it  will  come  to  an  end.  Not 
so  long  as  men  continue  to  be  weak,  and  sinful,  and  tear- 
ful, and  expectant,  without  any  help  near ;  not  until  men 
are  transformed  and  the  earth  empty — not  until  then  will 
the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry  cease ;  and  there  never 
was  an  epoch,  from  the  time  of  the  apostles  to  our  day, 
when  the  servants  of  Christ  had  such  a  field,  and  there 
was  such  need  of  them  and  such  hope  and  cheer  in  the 
work,  and  when  it  was  so  certain  that  a  real  man  in  the 
spirit  of  his  calling  would  reap  so  abundantly  as  to-day. 
And  if  I  were  to  choose  again,  having  before  me  the 
possibilities  of  profits  and  emoluments  of  merchant  life, 
and  the  honors  to  be  gained  through  law,  the  science 
and  love  that  come  from  the  medical  profession,  and  the 
honorable  ranks  of  teachers,  1  still  again  would  choose 
the  Christian  ministry.  It  is  the  sweetest  in  its  sub- 
stance, the  most  enduring  in  its  choice,  the  most  content 
in  its  poverty  and  limits  (if  your  lot  is  cast  in  places  of 
scarcity),  more  full  of  crowned  hopes,  more  full  of  whis- 


166  DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

paring  messages  from  those  gone  before,  nearer  to  the 
threshold,  nearer  to  the  throne,  nearer  to  the  brain,  to  the 
heart  that  was  pierced,  but  that  lives  forever  and  says, 
'  BECAUSE  I  LIVE  YE  SHALL  LIVE  ALSO.'  " 


X. 


DOING   THE    SAYINGS    OF    CHRIST. 

BY     REV.     C.     C.     WOODS, 
Of  West  St.  Louis  Conference. 


"  Therefore,  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth 
them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man,  which  built  his  house  upon 
a  rock." — MATTHEW  vii.  24. 

That  wisdom  which  received  the  approbation  of  the 
Master  must  insure  to  man  the  highest  results,  both  in 
this  world  and  in  that  which  is  to  come.  No  end  less  than 
this  was,  in  his  estimation,  worth  the  effort  of  man,  nor 
can  he  now  approve  anything  the  tendency  of  which  is 
contrary  to  this.  He  "commended"  the  dishonest 
steward  because  he  exhibited  craftiness  and  foresight  in 
turning  his  dishonesty  to  account,  but  he  did  not  endorse 
the  course  pursued  by  him,  nor  pronounce  him  wise. 
He  might  declare  the  "  children  of  this  world  wiser  in 
their  generation  than  the  children  of  light,"  but  it  is 


DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST.  167 

easy  to  see  in  this  a  criticism  upon  the  sluggishness  and 
want  of  zeal  characterizing  many  who  profess  to  labor 
for  eternity,  rather  than  an  approval  of  the  eager  pursuit 
of  pleasure  and  gain  manifest  in  those  who  look  not 
beyond  the  present  life.  He  could  unqualifiedly  endorse 
nothing  save  that  which  tended  directly  to  the  higher 
interests  of  man  as  a  citizen  of  eternity.  And  he  who 
in  his  way  of  life  meets  the  approval  of  the  Savior,  the 
favor  of  God,  certainly  occupies  the  highest  position 
humanity  can  secure,  and  has  nothing  to  fear  in  the  time 
to  come. 

Whatever  the  character  of  his  creed  or  the  soundness 
of  his  faith  in  the  estimation  of  the  theological  world,  if 
he  only  consciously  rests  in  God  and  follows  the  path  of 
his  appointment  in  singleness  of  heart,  all  is  secure. 

Our  Lord,  from  the  standpoint  of  his  divinity,  teaches 
us  that  this  wisdom,  which  means  so  much  to  man,  has 
two  essential  manifestations,  and  only  two — "  the  hearing 
and  the  doing  his  sayings."  And  if  any  object  that  these 
are  only  manifestations  of  a  hidden  principle,  we  answer 
that  the  Savior  here  approves  the  first  alone,  saying 
nothing  whatever  of  the  last.  And  if  the  principle  were 
all,  and  its  manifestation  nothing,  it  is  yet  unquestion- 
ably true  that  this  wisdom  cannot  live  in  the  soul 
without  outward  indication ;  neither  is  faith  known  to 
others  nor  recognized  by  our  Lord  under  favorable 
conditions  except  by  the  fruit  it  bears.  It  is  true,  there- 
fore, that  whosoever  fulfills  the  conditions  mentioned  by 
the  Savior,  whosover  hears  and  does  his  commandments, 
is  saved  from  sin  in  the  present,  and  from  pain  in  the 


168  DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

future  life.  And  man  must  possess  the  power  to  do 
this,  either  inherent  in  self  or  supplied  from  above,  else 
is  our  Gospel  a  delusion  and  a  cheat,  and  Jesus  Christ 
mocks  the  sin-bound  children  of  earth  by  offering  to 
them  a  salvation  he  well  knows  they  have  no  power  to 
secure. 

The  hearing  the  declarations  of  the  Son  of  God  is  a 
matter  of  primary  importance.  Without  this,  in  fact, 
while  we  would  not  abridge  the  mercies  of  God,  we  can 
truly  say  that  salvation  by  faith  in  Christ  is  an  impossi- 
bility. It  is  not  necessary,  of  course,  that  man  should 
receive  the  word  in  the  usual  way.  Circumstances  may 
forbid  his  attendance  upon  the  sanctuary,  ignorance  or 
poverty  may  prevent  a  personal  use  of  the  Bible;  but 
the  great  truths  embodied  in  the  sayings  of  Christ  must 
in  some  way  reach  the  mind  and  touch  the  heart  before 
there  is  a  reasonable  probability  of  any  action  resulting 
from  the  revelation  of  the  Master's  will.  And  it  is  not 
only  a  matter  of  grave  importance  that  enough  of  the 
truth  be  garnered  to  change  the  current  of  the  life,  but 
it  is  likewise  necessary,  in  order  to  intelligent  Christianity, 
that  man  should  imbibe  as  much  as  possible  of  the  divine 
wisdom. 

That  which  is  called  a  conviction  of  sin  is  the  legiti- 
mate result  of  giving  attention  to  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel — of  hearing  "  these  sayings  "  of  the  Savior. 
And  it  is  an  invarible  result  in  that  mind  which  receives 
the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God.  This,  of  course, 
necessitates  the  conclusion  that  all  those  who  acknowl- 
edge the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  yet  do  not  obey  him, 


DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST.  169 

are  convicted  of  sin.  And  is  it  not  true  ?  What  is 
conviction  more  than  a  knowledge  of  sin  as  resident  in 
the  soul  ?  How  many  of  this  class  will  deny  it  as  a 
fact  revealed  in  consciousness  that  they  are  sinners  in 
the  -sight  of  God  ?  Few  indeed !  Of  course,  there  are 
times  in  the  life  of  every  man  when  this  knowledge  of 
personal  sin  becomes  agonizing.  But  it  is  equally  true, 
that  there  may  often  be  the  strongest  outvtfard  indication 
of  conviction — even  amounting  to  physical  convulsion — 
when  the  soul  has  not,  and  does  not,  clearly  receive  the 
fact  of  its  guilt  in  the  sight  of  God.  And  as  the 
stronger  influences  of  conviction  generally  exhibit  them- 
selves with  decreasing  force  from  time  to  time,  it  ought 
to  be  conceded  that  it  is  as  unnecessary  as  it  is 
unsafe  for  the  sinner  to  wait  until  the  floodtide  of  his 
emotions  may  bear  him  over  the  shallows  of  hesitation. 
And  it  can  certainly  be  clearly  established  from  the  Word 
of  God,  that  he  expects  man  to  wait  for  nothing,  save  a 
knowledge  of  his  ruin  and  the  remedy  provided.  The 
sinner  should  be  taught  from  every  pulpit,  that  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin  renders  him  doubly  guilty  in  the  sight 
of  heaven  if  he  fly  not  at  once  to  the  Cross.  If  this 
were  more  generally  done,  instead  of  an  occasional 
revival — a  few  added  to  the  Church,  the  rest  left  over  to 
another  time — we  should,  doubtless,  behold  a  revival  of 
the  primitive  efficiency  of  the  Gospel,  and  daily  see 
"  added  to  the  Church  such  as  should  be  saved." 

If  the  sinner  bend  the  power  of  his  mind  to  contem- 
plate himself  as  a  sinner ;  if  he  act  upon  the  mere  fact  in 
consciousness,  soon  will  his  boasted  serenity  of  mind  be 


1 70  DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

gone,  and  every  chamber  of  his  soul  be  haunted  by  phan- 
toms from  the  troubled  past  and  grim  spectres  that  point 
him  with  bony  fingers  to  a  direful  future.  Remorse  will 
sit  upon  the  soul,  until,  banished  by  the  sunlight  of  the 
gospel,  it  gives  place  to  a  solemn  regret — a  "  godly  sor- 
row "  that  "  worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be 
repented  of." 

Now  the  man  is  face  to  face  with  his  duty.  His  con- 
science is  quickened,  his  mind  is  enlarged,  his  sensibilities 
are  in  action.  If  he  now  keep  his  eye  steadily  fixed  upon 
these  "  sayings  "  of  Christ,  and  all  his  powers  in  frame  to 
do  them,  the  time  will  be  brief  until  he,  his  repentance 
accomplished,  shall  sweetly  rest  in  God. 

Repentance  is  action,  and  action  of  the  highest  order 
— action  levying  tribute  upon  all  the  powers  of  humanity. 
For  if  the  sensibilities  are  called  upon  they  must  respond ; 
if  there  is  work  for  the  hands  it  must  be  done;  and  it  is  a 
somewhat  peculiar  fact,  that  at  this  crisis  there  is  "  no 
help  in  man,"  and  the  soul  experiences  no  consolation 
from  the  presence  of  God.  Though  friends  may  be  near, 
yet  their  sympathies  avail  not.  Though  the  war-cry  of 
the  Church  ring  in  his  ear,  it  awakens  no  enthusiasm. 
Though  angels  may  pityingly  look  upon  the  struggle 
from  afar,  yet  they  do  not  "  minister  "  unto  him.  He  is, 
so  to  speak,  "  in  the  wilderness,"  and  "  tempted  of  the 
devil."  Oh,  how  fearful  the  hour !  Who  that  has  expe- 
rienced it  can  ever  forget  ?  It  is  a  conflict  in-  which  no 
bugle  note  nor  scream  of  fife  ever  comes  to  stir  the  flag- 
ging energies  of  the  soul  and  help  it  on  to  victory.  All 
the  powers  of  earth,  of  hell,  and  of  a  carnal  nature,  in 


DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST.  171 

that  hour  array  themselves  against  these  "  sayings "  of 
Christ  writ  on  the  soul  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  pass  of 
Thermopylae  tried  men's  souls,  but  not  like  this.  The 
charge  of  the  Old  Guard  was  fearful,  but  not  so  fearful 
as  this.  The  destiny  of  a  nation  often  turns  upon  the 
issue  of  carnal  strife,  but  the  destiny  of  the  soul  always 
turns  upon  this.  There  are  none  to  be  found  who  are 
unwilling  to  be  saved  ;  few  who  are  unwilling  to  be  Chris- 
tians. If  God  would  only  do  away  with  the  necessity  for 
action  in  the  soul — if  he  would  only  change  the  nature  of 
man  from  sin  to  holiness  without  an  effort  on  his  part,  all 
would  be  well  (as  he  thinks),  and  he  would  "  run  up  with 
joy  the  shining  way."  But  two  things  are  absolutely 
necessary  on  the  part  of  man.  The  first,  a  complete  sur- 
render of  self — a  voluntary  renunciati  on  of  his  own  will, 
and  a  controlling  desire  to  devote  the  whole  life  to  the 
service  of  God,  together  with  an  humble  reliance  upon 
God  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  man  who 
does  this  is  saved  at  this  point,  if  ever  saved. 

But  there  may  be  a  sort  of  mental  incapacity  for  the 
exercise  of  this  higher  faith.  The  soul,  conscious  of  a 
full  surrender  and  an  earnest  desire  to  be  saved  from  sin, 
may  seem,  in  some  natures,  utterly  without  strength,  and 
it  is  doubtless  true  that  an  abnormal  manifestation  of  God 
may  lift  the  soul  from  its  despair  and  give  it  peace.  And 
yet  we  cannot  but  think  that  if  the  Savior  should  speak 
audibly  to  such  a  soul  he  would  use  the  same  tender,  yet 
reproachful,  words  he  addressed  to  Thomas,  "  Because 
thou  hast  seen  me  thou  hast  believed ;  blessed  are  they 
that  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed."  The  point  is 


I72  DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

this  :  While  of  course  the  ability  is  from  God,  yet  faith 
in  its  exercise  is  essentially  an  action  of  the  soul,  and  there 
seems  no  reason  why  he  who  has  faith  to  begin  and  carry 
forward  a  genuine  repentance  should  not  complete  the 
work  ;  that  he  who  believes  a  part  of  the  word  should 
fail  to  receive  it  all,  and  know  that  when  man  conforms 
to  the  conditions  God  imposes  he  is  always  accepted,  and 
accepted  at  once.  Hear  Isaiah  :  "  Let  the  wicked  for- 
sake his  way  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and 
let  him  return  unto  the  Lord  who  will  have  mercy,  and 
to  our  God  who  will  abundantly  pardon."  Here  the 
question  arises  :  What  is  the  test  by  which  the  sinner 
may  know  that  he  has  reached  the  point  where  he  may 
trust  in  God?  Suppose  he  is  tired  of  sin  and  heartily  re- 
nounces it,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  "  godly  sorrow  for  sin  " 
gives  himself  with  all  his  powers  to  God,  in  a  renewed 
purpose  of  life,  faith  at  the  same  time  asserting  the  truth 
and  the  power  of  God.  Yet  he  finds  no  joy  in  his  trust ; 
no  star  arises  upon  the  sombre  night  of  the  soul.  Is  he 
converted  ?  No,  we  are  probably  told,  for  conversion  is 
a  change  of  heart,  not  merely  of  purpose.  If  he  die  in 
this  condition  will  he  be  lost  ?  No  ;  the  thought  is  re- 
volting !  But  God  cannot  save  in  heaven  a  soul  unpar- 
doned ;  and  the  conclusion  is  obvious,  that  the  man  was 
converted,  or  physical  death  accomplishes  that  which  the 
grace  of  God  could  not  do.  And  with  regard  to  the  as- 
sertion that  conversion  is  a  change  of  heart,  and  not 
merely  of  purpose,  we  ask,  Can  there  be  an  entire  change 
of  purpose  unless  the  heart  is  likewise  changed  ?  Does 
not  the  one  spring  from  and  indicate  itself  in  the  other  ? 


DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST.  173 

We  think  so.  And,  furthermore,  it  is  true  that,  while  the 
penitent  may  not  have  been  able  to  detect  the  processes 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  yet  this  result — an  entire  change  of 
heart  and  purpose — is  and  can  only  be  a  direct  result  of 
his  gracious  influence.  For,  saith  the  Savior,  "  No  man 
cometh  unto  me  except  the  Father  draw  him."  The 
spirit  of  the  world  draws  no  one  to  Christ. 

The  degree  of  joy  felt  in  conversion  is  contingent,  not 
only  on  the  temperament,  but  likewise  upon  the  heartiness 
with  which  man  conforms  to  the  conditions — upon  the 
character  of  his  faith.  And  whatever  the  attendant  emo- 
tion, it  is  generally  true  that  when  the  excitement  of  the 
hour  has  passed  by,  a  rigid  inspection  of  the  consciousness 
will  reveal  little  more  than  a  changed  purpose  of  life. 
And  this  is  natural,  for  he  is  only  a  babe  in  Christ.  As 
the  new-born  babe  is  conscious  only  of  life  and  of  desire,  so 
the  spiritual  babe  is  conscious  only  of  a  principle  of  life 
unknown  before  and  of  a  desire  to  possess  and  feel  more 
than  he  now  does.  Here  we  may  be  asked,  Is  the  man 
safe  now?  We  answer,  no;  nor  at  any  point  in  the 
Christian  life  if  he  ceases  to  do  the  "  sayings  "  of  Christ. 
When  faith  in  the  soul  crystallizes  into  mere  dogma  men- 
tally retained,  and  activity  gives  place  to  stagnation,  the 
result  is  always  spiritual  death.  And  if  in  any  given  case 
we  are  uncertain  as  to  whether  the  man  was  converted, 
or  being  converted  has  backslidden,  the  question  is  of  no 
consequence,  for  damnation  is  no  more  certain  in  the  one 
case  than  in  the  other.  We  think  it  true,  in  almost  every 
case,  that  he  who  intelligently  and  in  all  honesty  takes  upon 
himself  the  solemn  vows  of  our  holy  Christianity  is  a  con- 


174  DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

verted  man,  and  if  he  continue  in  the  path  of  duty  re- 
vealed in  the  word  of  God  the  issue  is  not  doubtful.  He 
will  "  grow  in  grace,"  and  "  go  from  strength  to  strength," 
until  the  twilight  of  his  spiritual  morning  gives  place  to  the 
brightness  of  perfect  day,  and  the  full-orbed  glories  of 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shines  away  all  his  fears.  He 
will  then  be  able  "  to  stand  and  (also)  rejoice  in  hope  of 
the  glory  of  God." 

But,  under  any  circumstances,  man  is  to  "  work  out  his 
salvation."  He  must  do  as  well  as  enjoy ',  keeping  always 
in  view  the  fact  that  we  are  saved  by  '•'•faith  and  not  by 
works."  And  even  admitting  that  we  do  the  sayings  of 
Christ,  not  because  we  would  be  his,  but  because  we  are 
his,  yet,  at  the  same  time,  we  have  no  sort  of  confidence 
in  the  efficiency  of  that  faith  which  literally  "  worketh 
not  at  all."  Man  is  not  saved  by  works ;  and  yet  it  is 
unquestionably  true  that  our  Savior  makes  these  the  only 
tehts  of  faith,  and  in  his  delineation  of  the  judgment  he 
approves  the  righteous  because  they  had  done  certain 
things,  and  condemns  the  wicked  because  they  had 
failed  to  do  these  same  things,  and  says  nothing  whatever 
of  the  principle  lying  behind  the  action  in  the  one  case,  or 
the  inaction  in  the  other. 

The  "doing  these  sayings"  of  Christ  constitutes  the 
highest  test  of  faith;  and  more  yet,  for  God  will  as- 
suredly see  the  faith  if  it  exist  in  the  soul,  and  if  we  only 
labor  to  demonstrate  our  faith,  the  exercise  would  be  use- 
less. But  the  law  of  spiritual  growth  positively  forbids 
inanition,  and  added  to  our  own  spiritual  interest  is  the 
fact,  that  the  actions  of  others  may  be  largely  contingent 


DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST.  175 

upon  our  own.  Christ  bids  us  :  "  Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and  glorify 
the  Father  in  heaven."  Furthermore,  this  doing  what 
Christ  enjoins  is  not  to  depend  upon  our  moods.  Our 
light  is  not  simply  to  shine  during  a  transient  enthusiasm ; 
we  are  to  work  and  endure  as  if  we  saw  him  who  is  actu- 
ally "  invisible."  We  are  to  work,  no  matter  how  we  feel, . 
or,  as  we  have  it  in  the  "  General  Rules,"  "  trampling 
under  foot  that  enthusiastic  doctrine,  that  we  are  not  to 
do  good  unless  our  own  hearts  be  free  to  do  it." 

The  young  Christian  does  not  always  feel  inclined  to 
do  the  will  of  God.  Often  he  is  strongly  tempted  to  do 
that  expressly  forbidden.  Of  course  he  is  not  now  joyful 
in  God ;  yet  the  spiritual  deprivation  of  this  hour  is  no 
proof  of  a  nature  yet  in  the  "  gall  of  bitterness." 

Now,  if  one  such  period  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
Christian  life  there  may  be  many,  and  if  many  the  whole 
life  may  be  overcast,  and  the  poor  man  forever  struggling 
with  his  fears,  and  yet  be  a  child  of  God.  If  his  faith 
only  suffices  to  keep  him  at  work  all  will  be  well,  and  the 
only  loss  he  sustains  is  a  temporary  one — the  loss  of  that 
perfect  repose  which  inures  to  the  soul  dismissing  all  fear 
and  casting  itself  upon  the  mercies  of  God  through  Jesus 
Christ.  But  it  is  a  reasonable  supposition,  that  if  there 
exist  any  difference  in  the  feeling  of  God  as  he  looks 
upon  a  rejoicing  Christian  and  a  soul  struggling  in  gloom, 
it  must  be  in  favor  of  the  latter ;  he  must  look  with  more 
interest  upon  the  soul  that,  beset  by  all  the  hosts  of  hell, 
and  in  darkness  almost  palpable,  yet  struggles  even  in 
agony  to  do  what  the  Master  says,  than  upon  the  re- 


176  DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

joicing  obedience  of  the  perfect  man  in  whom  this  soul- 
gravitation,  "  shifting,  has  turned  the  other  way."  The 
great  Shepherd  has  a  tender  regard  for  the  weakly  ones 
of  his  flock ;  "  he  will  not  break  the  bruised  reed  nor 
quench  the  smoking  flax."  And  if  it  be  true  that  we  are 
to  recognize  a  Christian  as  such  by  the  fruit  he  bears 
(Matt.  vii.  16;  Luke  vi.  44),  much  more  may  he  recog- 
nize himself  in  the  same  way  in  the  absence  of  a  direct 
witness  of  the  Spirit.  For  he  knows  the  principle  by 
which  he  is  actuated,  and  is  inwardly  conscious  of  an 
honest  purpose  to  glorify  God,  and  satisfied  that  his  work 
will  bear  the  inspection  of  the  Master,  his  condition  is 
infinitely  preferable  to  that  of  the  man  who  depends  upon 
an  occasional  paroxysm  rather  than  a  life  of  steady  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  God.  Further,  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  "  him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith,"  we  may  refer  to 
Mr.  Wesley,  who  says  that  he  does  not  consider  a 
"  knowledge  of  acceptance  essential  to  justifying  faith  ;" 
by  which  he  doubtless  means  that  in  his  opinion  one 
may  be  a  Christian  without  possessing  the  "  witness  of 
the  Spirit."  But  it  would  be  an  anomaly  if  one  should 
continue  long  in  so  low  a  state,  and  yet  faithfully  observe 
and  do  the  "  sayings"  of  Christ.  The  rule  is,  that  he  who 
is  faithful  over  a  few  things  will  soon  enjoy  much  of 
God. 

To  sum  up  this  part  of  the  subject,  we  say  that  salva- 
tion is  contingent  upon  a  proper  exercise  of  those  facul- 
ties of  our  nature  we  can  control,  and  not  upon  any 
paroxysm  affecting  us  involuntarily ;  upon  what  is  done 
and  not  upon  what  is  felt.  Man  can  think,  and  will,  and 


DOING  THE  SAYINGS  OF  CHRIST.  177 

act,  but  he  cannot  melt  to  tears,  nor  lift  himself  to  the 
hilltops  of  joy  by  any  effort  of  the  soul.  And  God  re- 
quires only  that  which  man  can  do.  Happiness  is  gener- 
ally found  in  connection  with  personal  Christianity,  but 
it  is  no  part  of  Christianity.  Rather  it  is  a  result,  an 
accident.  Rarely,  if  ever,  can  it  be  a  test  of  the  sound- 
ness of  our  faith. 

Through  this  process  of  development,  so  far  as  we 
have  traced  it,  but  little  has  been  said  as  to  the  part  per- 
formed by  God  himself.  Nor  will  we  dwell  upon  this 
point  now.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  God  either  has  done 
already,  or  will  do  at  the  proper  time,  whatever  is  neces- 
sary in  any  given  case.  The  soul  that  earnestly  seeks  to 
find  and  do  the  right,  if  light  or  faith  or  strength  are  fail- 
ing, will,  if  persisting  in  its  high  purpose,  find  all  the  con- 
ditions supplied,  and  that  so  naturally  that  only  faith  can 
detect  it  as  the  work  of  God.  He  will  abundantly  per- 
form his  part  of  the  work,  and  "  no  good  thing  will  he 
withhold  from  them  that  walk  uprightly." 

From  this  position  it  is  clearly  seen  that  the  sinner  is 
left  without  excuse.  The  man  who  says,  "  I  would  like 
to  be  a  Christian,"  but  is  not,  is  either  dishonest  or  ex- 
ceedingly ignorant ;  for  he  has  the  power  to  conform  to 
the  conditions  imposed  by  the  Son  of  God.  Lfet  him 
arouse  from  the  deadly  stupor  which  so  long  has  fettered 
his  faculties,  and  begin  at  once  to  "  work  out  his  salva- 
tion," looking  unto  CHRIST  for  pardon  and  help. 

And  if  there  be  a  Christian  whose  religion  is  but  fanat- 
icism, whose  faith  is  an  occasional  convulsion,  and  to 


178    "  THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM. 

whom  "  getting  happy"  is  the  surest  proof  as  well  as  the 
highest  phase  of  the  Christian,  life,  let  him  remember 
that  saying  of  Christ :  "  Not  every  one  that  sayeth  unto 
me,  Lord !  Lord !  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is 
in  heaven." 


XL 
THE    FOLLY    OF    SKEPTICISM. 

BY     REV.     J.     E.     GODBEY, 

Of  the  St.  Louis  Conference. 


"  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God." — PSALM  liii.  i. 

There  are  few  who  are  infidels  in  belief,  but  many 
who  are  so  in  practice.  There  are  many  who  would 
gladly  disbelieve  the  testimony  of  nature,  and  shut  their 
eyes  to  all  the  evidences  she  presents  of  an  intelligent 
Creator.  Having  a  knowledge  of  God — which,  indeed, 
they  cannot  shun — they  do  not  like  to  retain  him  in 
their  thoughts,  and  even  wish  that  there  were  no  God. 

He  who  in  his  heart  seeks  to  crush  out  his  convictions 
of  the  existence  and  authority  of  his  Maker  is  declared 
in  the  text  to  be  a  fool.  Let  us  consider  the  evidences 
by  which  this  sentence  is  sustained.  That  he  who  denies 


THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM.  179 

that  there  is  a  God,  or,  believing  in  his  existence,  despises 
his  law,  is  a  fool,  we  attempt  to  prove  from  these  premises  : 
He  rejects  the  most  obvious  conclusions  of  reason ;  he 
delights  in  low  and  degrading  conceptions  of  mankind; 
he  glories  in  his  own  shame  and  misery.  And,  first : 

He  who  denies  the  existence  of  God  is  contradicted 
by  the  strongest  possible  evidence.  In  the  world  of 
matter  and  of  mind  we  are  afforded  the  most  conclusive 
proofs  that  there  exists  from  eternity  a  great  First  Cause. 
Such  is  our  conviction  of  the  necessary  relation  and 
sequence  of  cause  and  effect,  that  whenever  our  eyes 
rest  upon  any  object  we  cannot  but  refer  its  origin  to 
some  power  or  agency;  and  if  we  behold  in  that  object 
design,  adaptation  to  an  end,  we  cannot  believe  its 
origin  casual  or  accidental,  but  are  forced  to  connect 
with  the  idea  of  a  cause  the  farther  idea  of  intelligence 
or  design.  From  the  order  and  adaptation  manifested 
in  all  the  works  of  nature,  the  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being 
is  forced  upon  us.  If  this  conclusion  be  denied,  if  it  be 
said  that  it  is  as  reasonable  to  suppose  all  things  to  have 
existed  as  they  are,  uncreated,  as  to  suppose  that  there  is 
an  intelligent  Being  who  is  himself  uncreated  and  eternal, 
we  would  meet  the  denial  with  such  arguments  as  these : 

Allowing,  indeed,  that  matter  be  eternal,  we  find 
phenomena  connected  with  matter  which  cannot  be 
explained  by  reference  to  any  power  or  principle 
inherent  in  matter  itself.  Philosophy  will  demonstrate 
that  matter  is  in  itself  wholly  passive  and  inert.  Placed 
in  any  given  state  it  has  no  power  in  itself  to 
change  its  state.  When  I  see  matter  at  rest  I  am 


l8o  THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM. 

assured  that  it  will  remain  at  rest  forever,  unless  some 
external  force  shall  set  it  in  motion.  Set  in  motion, 
only  external  forces  can  bring  it  to  rest.  Such  is  matter 
in  itself  considered.  Philosophy  declares  inertia  to  be 
one  of  its  natural  properties.  But  in  nature  I  behold 
these  wonderful  phenomena :  that  which  is  proven  to  be, 
in  itself,  dead  and  powerless,  is  constantly  changing  its 
state  and  assuming  motion  and  life.  The  grass  of  the 
field,  the  forest  tree,  and  all  the  forms  of  vegetable  life, 
from  the  moss  of  the  rocks  to  the  stately  fir,  but  present 
to  my  eye  the  various  forms  which  matter  is  constantly 
assuming.  Suppose  the  earth  upon  which  we  live  was 
in  the  beginning  a  mass  of  liquid  fire,  as  geologists 
suppose,  or,  as  others  have  fancied,  a  globe  of  ice.  or  a 
chaos  of  hard  clay ;  adopt  any  theory  which  gives  us 
matter  alone,  without  animal  or  vegetable  life,  and  no 
principle  inherent  in  matter  itself  will  explain  their  origin. 
Admitting  that,  as  they  now  exist,  we  see  in  nature  the 
means  by  which  they  are  perpetuated,  their  origin  must 
be  still  referred  to  a  power  which  is  not  found  in  mere 
matter.  And  in  all  those  theories  of  gradual  develop- 
ment which  have  been  in  our  times  suggested,  there  has 
been  found  no  theorist  who  dares  ignore  that  fact.  But 
in  this  argument  we  have  appeared  to  admit,  what  no 
philosopher  dares  to  claim,  that  there  are  discoverable  in 
nature  principles  which  explain  the  perpetuation  of 
animal  and  vegetable  life,  if  they  do  not  solve  the 
problem  of  their  origin.  But  even  this,  we  say,  none 
has  as  yet  dared  to  claim.  The  growth  of  the  plant, 
the  blooming  of  the  flower,  the  perpetual  decay  and 


THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM.  181 

reproduction  of  animated  things,  is  a  mystery  too  deep 
for  human  science,  and  can  only  be  explained  by  belief 
in  a  God. 

The  botanist  can  analyze  the  plant,  describe  its  struc- 
ture, tell  its  species,  explain  to  us  the  functions  of  its 
leaves  and  roots.  Chemical  analysis  may  make  us 
acquainted  with  its  constituent  elements,  and  we  may 
determine  what  are  the  conditions  of  heat  and  moisture, 
and  what  are  the  properties  of  the  soil  essential  to  its 
growth,  and  yet  in  all  these  things  we'  do  not  lay  our 
hands  upon  the  mystery  of  life.  The  mode  of  life  we 
see,  but  the  principle  we  do  not  comprehend.  The 
power  that  resides  in  the  plant  puts  into  action  every 
fibre  and  vessel  to  cause  roots  and  leaves  to  perform 
their  functions,  and  thus  to  live  and  grow  is  beyond 
detection.  All  philosophy  teaches  that  matter  alone  is 
powerless,  leaving  us  to  the  conclusion  that  all  force  is 
spiritual,  and  that  the  only  answer  that  can  be  found  for 
him  who  asks  the  cause  of  such  things  is,  "  It  is  the  will 
of  God." 

As  respects  animal  life,  were  even  the  theory  of  de- 
velopment by  natural  selection  true,  it  would  in  no  way 
solve  the  mystery  of  life — life  in  its  primordial,  for  we 
must  still  refer  to  a  Creator,  and  the  law  by  which  it  is 
developed  to  the  ceaseless  exertion  of  his  power,  and 
each  species  thus  developed  must  be  viewed  as  a  new 
creation. 

But  if  neither  animal  nor  vegetable  life  can  spring 
spontaneously  from  matter,  how  shall  we  account  for  in- 
telligence, how  explain  the  world  of  mind  ?  So  far  from 


182  THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM. 

showing  intelligence  to  be  the  result  of  any  combination 
of  matter,  it  cannot  even  be  shown  to  be  necessarily  asso- 
ciated with  physical  organism,  or  at  least  upon  any 
stated  condition  of  the  physical  system.  Intelligence  is 
not  the  result  of  any  combination  of  mere  matter,  and 
can  only  be  regarded  as  produced  by  an  intelligent  agent ; 
and,  because  of  the  marks  of  design  which  appear  upon 
all.  things,  it  is  evident  that  in  the  order  of  existence  mind 
was  before  matter,  and  that  intelligence  has  directed  all 
the  work  of  the  natural  world.  In  this  supreme  intelli- 
gence, which  is  before  all  things,  and  by  which  all  things 
are  directed,  we  have  the  idea  of  God. 

We  talk  of  the  laws  of  nature,  for  by  this  title  we  are 
accustomed  to  designate  all  the  powers  by  which  nature 
is  governed.  The  effect  of  these  powers  is  to  preserve 
harmony  among  all  the  parts  of  the  universe.  Here, 
then,  we  behold  law  and  manifest  design.  But  there  can 
be  no  law  or  harmonious  plan  without  will.  But  there  is 
no  will  in  matter,  and  it  can  have  no  design ;  so  we  are 
led  to  acknowledge  a  will  by  which  all  the  conditions 
and  principles  of  matter  have  been  determined,  and  so 
we  arrive  again  at  the  idea  of  an  infinite,  eternal  intelli- 
gence. Again,  in  the  very  relation  which  we  recognize 
as  subsisting  between  cause  and  effect,  we  are  forced,  in 
the  order  of  sequence,  to  place  cause  first.  We  also  per- 
ceive that  the  chain  cannot  be  endless,  and  however  far 
we  may  propose  to  trace  it  backward,  we  must  end  at  last 
in  the  belief  in  a  great  First  Cause,  the  fountain  of  all 
being.  Start  from  whatever  point  we  choose,  pursue 
whatever  line  or  legitimate  method  of  reasoning  we  may, 


THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM.  183 

we  arrive  always  at  the  idea  of  the  Infinite.  Here  is  the 
end  of  all  inquiries,  the  solution  of  all  mysteries.  Every- 
thing in  nature  proclaims  there  is  a  God.  To  God  every 
path  of  inquiry  leads,  as  the  rivers  run  into  the  sea.  The 
mind  cannot  advance  in  any  direction  of  thought  and 
escape  this  conclusion. 

If  it  could  be  shown  that  there  are  no  marks  of  design 
upon  anything,  no  evidences  of  a  controlling  will,  then 
only  would  the  existence  of  such  a  being  become  a 
problem,  then  only  would  men  have  an  equal  ground  to 
affirm  as  to  deny  his  existence.  But  who  ever  surveys 
through  all  the  objects  around  him  harmony  and  adapta- 
tion, unity  of  plan  in  an  infinite  variety  of  parts,  infinite 
existence,  universal  and  unchangeable  laws,  all  things 
controlled  by  powers  certain,  fixed,  and  uniform — who 
ever  beholds  all  this  and  yet  denies  that  there  is  a  God, 
is  a  fool,  and  hath  not  the  perception  and  understanding 
of  an  intelligent  being.  To  such  an  one  nature  hath 
denied  the  gift  of  reason,  or  passion  and  depravity  have 
dethroned  it. 

The  folly  of  the  infidel  is  exhibited  further  in  the  fact 
that  he  delights  in  low  and  degrading  conceptions  of 
mankind.  He  contemplates  himself  as  the  offspring  of 
chance,  being  without  purpose,  and  left  to  such  destiny 
as  chance  may  determine.  In  this  view  he  is  no  longer 
superior  to  the  beast.  His  intelligence  ceases  to  elevate 
him  ;  yea,  rather  is  he  degraded  by  it.  If  all  things  are 
the  sport  of  chance,  what  can  man  presume  to  know  ? 
All  our  convictions  of  truth  are  based  upon  the  recogni- 
tion of  fixed,  eternal  principles ;  but  with  chance  nothing 


184  THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM. 

is  fixed,  nothing  sure ;  the  mind  dares  not  accept  any  con- 
clusion, reason  dares  not  advance  a  single  step,  for  she 
finds  no  firm  footing  anywhere.  Unless  he  recognize  the 
fact  that  his  powers  and  faculties  are  bestowed  on  him  by 
One  whose  will  is  sovereign  and  unchangeable,  and  who 
delights  in  truth,  man  dares  not  trust  his  own  senses  to 
give  him  a  proper  conception  of  anything;  in  short,  truth 
and  reason  are  but  fictions,  and  man  is  not  elevated  by 
his  powers  of  thought,  but  only  made  the  more  subject  to 
delusion,  believing  in  fictions,  pursuing  shadows,  his  own 
existence  being  but  a  fitful  dream.  Viewed  as  the  child 
of  chance,  man  is  but  a  piece  of  animated  clay,  subject 
to  no  certain  law ;  having  no  mission  to  fulfill,  his  cares, 
his  hopes,  his  fears,  his  toil,  are  for  naught.  Even  intelli- 
gence, which  is  his  glory  and  boast,  does  not  elevate  him 
above  inanimate  matter,  but  sinks  him  below  it ;  for  if 
there  be  a  higher  intelligence  by  which  he  is  governed, 
then  the  existence  of  a  God  is  acknowledged.  But  if 
there  be  no  such  superior  intelligence,  then  human  intelli- 
gence is  but  the  result  of  a  certain  combination  of  matter, 
and  subject  to  those  blind,  mechanical  laws,  which  are, 
under  such  a  supposition,  recognized  as  inherent  in  mat- 
ter itself.  Intelligence  being  thus  the  offspring  of  mere 
matter,  and  controlled  by  it,  becomes  clearly  inferior,  and 
matter  is  superior  to  mind,  and  man  by  his  intelligence  is 
only  degraded  below  inanimate  things. 

The  belief  in  a  God  gives  to  man  a  nobility  above  all 
the  creatures  and  objects  around  him,  for  he  perceives 
that  he  is  endowed  with  faculties  which  place  him  in  in- 
timate relation  to  his  Creator.  He  recognizes  in  himself 


THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM.  185 

will  and  intelligence  as  attributes  of  divinity  which  he 
possesses  only  in  an  inferior  degree.  While  he  feels 
these  powers  he  cannot  but  claim  kindred  with  the  Deity, 
and  know  that  there  is  imparted  to  him  some  part  of  that 
nature  which  constitutes  the  glory  and  perfection  of  the 
Eternal,  and  which  is  itself,  therefore,  imperishable.  With 
what  exalted  hopes,  what  glorious  aspirations,  do  these 
convictions  fill  the  human  bosom  !  Mind  is  no  longer 
inferior  to  matter,  man  rises  above  the  visible  and  mate- 
rial— the  great  globe,  the  vast  universe,  is  nothing  to  him  ; 
and,  secure  in  his  own  existence,  he  smiles  at  the  thought 
that  all  these  may  perish  and  be  dissolved. 

Upon  these  convictions  is  founded  all  that  is  great  in 
human  character,  all  that  is  sublime  in  human  achieve- 
ments ;  for  there  is  no  longer  anything  to  call  forth  our 
admiration  if  the  highest  motives  which  it  is  possible  for 
man  to  feel  have  their  origin  in  his  own  passions  or 
desires,  or  result  from  the  fear  and  authority  of  a  being 
like  himself. 

Who  is  he,  then,  who  would  tear  from  man  the  crown 
of  divinity,  forbid  these  desires,  and  destroy  that  faith 
which  is  the  source  of  his  happiness,  and  degrade  him 
lower  than  the  very  dust  upon  which  he  treads  ?  From 
the  inspired  king  of  Israel  an  answer  comes  down  to  us 
through  living  ages,  confirmed  by  every  testimony  of 
nature  and  of  reason,  declaring  that  "  he  is  a  fool" 

Nor  is  it  possible  upon  any  ground  for  the  skeptic  to 
escape  the  conviction  of  his  folly.  For  even  if  it  be 
granted  that  man's  belief  in  God  is  but  a  delusion,  his 
hope  of  immortality  a  vain  dream — that  man,  with  all  his 


1 86  THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM. 

varied  powers,  is  but  a  chance  creation,  brought  into 
being  and  destroyed  by  some  blind,  relentless  power, 
still  would  it  be  the  highest  folly  to  seek  to  destroy  those 
beliefs,  which  in  every  age  he  hath  cherished,  and  with- 
out which  he  is  made  an  orphan  and  exile.  No  Father 
in  heaven  to  watch  over  him,  no  light,  no  counsel  to 
guide  him,  no  purpose  or  motive  to  direct  his  life,  finding 
no  object  worthy  of  his  love,  and  himself  unworthy  the 
love  or  sympathy  of  his  kind  !  Let  it  not  be  answered, 
that  it  is  nevertheless  best  that  man  should  give  up  de- 
lusions, however  dear,  in  order  to  know  the  truth.  For 
if  there  be  no  hereafter,  then  what  is  truth  ? — what  will 
the  love  or  knowledge  of  truth  avail  ?  If  the  present  is 
the  whole  of  life,  then  it  is  man's  wisdom  to  make  it  as 
happy  as  he  may,  no  matter  if  it  be  by  a  delusion. 
Even  errors  believed  are  present  realities  to  our  own 
minds,  and  if  it  be  true  that  there  is  no  future  state,  man 
shall  never  wake  to  his  errors,  or  suffer  disappointment 
for  having  believed  falsehoods.  Even  then,  if  this  hope 
be  a  delusion,  nothing  can  be  so  much  to  my  interest, 
nothing  can  so  promote  my  happiness,  as  that  this  dream 
of  eternal  felicity  should  still  maintain  its  power  over  me, 
soothe  the  afflictions  of  life,  and  charm  away  my  pains 
and  fears  when  I  sink  into  the  eternal  slumber. 

But  it  is  not  for  the  skeptic  even  to  talk  of  truth,  or 
pretend  to  despise  error.  That  view  which  regards  all 
things  as  the  sport  of  chance  makes  the  knowledge  of 
truth  impossible,  as  we  have  already  shown ;  it  offers  no 
foundation  on  which  any  firm  belief  can  be  rested.  It 
gives  the  same  character  of  uncertainty  to  every  conclu- 


THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM.  187 

sion.  It  declares  that  man's  inevitable  fate  is  to  believe  in 
unsubstantial  theories — to  pursue  phantoms  and  shadows 
until  he  returns  to  dust.  Surely  there  can  be  no  greater 
exhibition  of  folly  than  that  one  should  profess  to  despise 
me  for  my  errors,  and  yet  claim  that  to  err,  and  err  only 
continually,  is  the  destiny  of  man. 

Last  of  all,  the  folly  of  the  skeptic  is  seen  in  this,  that 
he  glories  in  his  own  misery,  and  seeks,  moreover,  for 
knowledge  in  attempting  to  prove  that  nothing  can  be 
known.  He  seeks,  we  say,  to  expose  his  own  shame 
and  to  increase  his  misery.  He  desires  to  be  recognized 
as  possessing  no  spiritual  nature,  no  moral  character,  to 
be  governed  by  no  obligation.  He  claims  that  virtue 
and  vice  are  imaginary  distinctions.  He  declares  reason 
to  be  a  liar,  and  conscience  but  a  bugbear.  He  laughs 
at  the  sacredness  of  principle,  and  acknowledges  no  obli- 
gation but  the  present  necessity.  The  most  illustrious 
virtues  and  the  most  shocking  crimes  are  in  his  sight  only 
distinguished  by  the  conventionalities  of  society  or  the 
caprice  of  human  legislators,  and  the  philanthropist  and'the 
highwayman  are  regarded  as  worthy  of  the  same  destiny. 
For  these  sentiments  and  views  the  infidel  desires  to  be 
honored ;  for,  after  all,  it  is  manifest  that  a  conceited 
pride,  and  a  vain  desire  to  appear  wise,  are  the  motives 
which  lead  men  to  such  a  course — they  would  attract 
attention  by  the  singularity  of  their  conduct.  They 
openly  contradict  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  and 
for  this  desire  to  be  called  philosophers.  They  oppose 
themselves  to  everything  that  is  sacred  and  dear  to 
humanity,  and  for  this  they  would  be  called  benefac- 


l88  THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM. 

tors  of  the  human  race.  They  assert  that  nothing  can 
be  known,  and  spread  over  man's  prospects  the  shadows 
of  uncertainty,  or  the  gloom  of  palpable  despair ;  and  for 
this  they  call  themselves  the  lights  of  the  world.  Thus 
in  their  shame  do  they  glory,  and  by  their  folly  do  they 
seek  reputation  for  wisdom.  And  while  they  make  such 
effort  to  win  applause  or  to  be  esteemed  wise  by  a  crea- 
ture so  wretched  and  miserable  as  they  represent  man  to 
be,  they  prove  themselves  to  be  the  slaves  of  creatures 
like  themselves,  and  thus  degraded  even  below  their 
species. 

The  skeptic  is  an  open  foe  to  the  happiness  of  man. 
Even  those  who  scoff  at  religion,  and  deny  moral  obliga- 
tion to  a  higher  power,  have  recognized  the  utility  of  those 
laws  and  restraints  adopted  among  men  for  the  regula- 
tion of  human  conduct.  But  nothing  is  more  absurd 
than  to  acknowledge  the  importance  and  necessity  of 
human  law,  and  yet  oppose  those  principles  and  convic- 
tions upon  which  alone  the  authority  of  the  law  depends. 
It  is  only  in  these  convictions  of  moral  obligation  that 
human  laws  find  their  sanction  and  strength.  Show  that 
justice  is  not  a  fixed,  eternal  principle,  and  that  there  is 
no  being  greater  than  man  to  whom  we  shall  answer  for 
our  conduct,  and  every  power  competent  to  restrain 
human  actions  is  removed,  and  no  man  cares  longer 
either  to  obey  or  enforce  the  law.  Remove  from  man 
the  fear  of  God,  and  even  the  name  of  justice  would  be 
heard  no  more ;  confusion,  anarchy,  treachery,  would 
reign  everywhere ;  the  proudest  empires  would  fall  into 
ruin  at  once;  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  triumphing 


THE  FOLLY  OF  SKEPTICISM.  189 

over  every  feeling  beside,  would  make  men  fierce  and 
tameless  as  the  tiger. 

Such  would  be  the  state  of  man  if  what  the  infidel 
teaches  were  believed. 

When  we  consider  the  folly,  the  absurdity  of  his  doc- 
trine, and  the  terrible  consequences  which  its  belief  would 
bring  upon  man,  he  who  denies  the  existence  of  God  ap- 
pears no  longer  simply  a  fool.  Nothing  but  the  most 
fearful  depravity  could  lead  to  such  a  course.  It  is  not 
the  weakness  of  his  intellect  so  much  as  the  wickedness 
of  his  heart  which  impels  man  to  such  a  course.  Greek 
and  Roman  fables  tell  of  the  Titans  who  attempted  to 
ascend  into  heaven  and  dethrone  the  Omnipotent,  but 
theirs  is  a  folly  more  insane  and  desperate.  God  hath 
written  his  law  upon  all  his  works,  yea,  even  upon  the 
human  heart.  Here  is  his  eternal  record,  and  while  suns 
shine  or  planets  roll,  while  intelligent  beings  exist  to 
behold  the  wonders  of  this  vast  creation,  there  will  not 
be  wanting  either  proof  of  God's  existence  or  the  convic- 
tion of  his  authority. 

"  Why  do  the  heathen  rage  and  the  people  imagine  a 
vain  thing ;  the  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves  and  the 
rulers  take  counsel  together,  saying,  '  Let  us  break  their 
bands  asunder  and  cast  away  their  cords  from  us  ?  '  He 
that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh,  and  the  Lord  shall 
have  them  in  derision." 


XII. 

HEAVEN  :     ITS    INHABITANTS,     THEIR 
CHARACTER    AND    EMPLOYMENT. 

BY     REV.     S.     W.     COPE, 
Of  the    Missouri    Conference. 


"After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo  a  great  multitude,  which  no  man 
could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues, 
stood  before  the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white 
robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands:  And  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying,  Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and 
unto  the  Lamb.  And  all  the  angels  stood  round  about  the  throne, 
and  about  the  elders  and  the  four  beasts,  and  fell  before  the  throne 
on  their  faces,  and  worshiped  God,  saying,  Amen :  blessing,  and 
glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving,  and  honor,  and  power,  and 
might,  be  unto  our  God  forever  and  ever.  Amen." — REV.  vii.  9-12. 

This  revelation  from  God  is  a  grand  disclosure  to  us 
of  heaven.  In  a  preceding  vision  which  St.  John  had, 
he  saw  five  angels,  four  of  whom  stood  over  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth  (Judea),  "  holding  the  four  winds  of 
the  earth,  that  the  wind  should  not  blow  on  the  earth, 
nor  on  the  sea,  nor  on  any  tree."  These  angels  were 
the  divinely  appointed  agents  to  stay  the  gathering 
storms  of  persecution,  afflictions,  and  wild  and  wide- 
spread commotions,  which  were  soon  to  sweep  over  the 
whole  land  of  Judea,  like  impetuous  torrents,  or  as  a 


HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS;  191 

fiery  deluge,  laying  waste  the  country,  and  totally 
destroying  the  memorable,  and  once  holy  city  of  Jeru- 
salem. The  fifth  angel  makes  his  appearance  in  the 
East.  He  comes  in  great  haste,  indicating  the  import- 
ance of  his  mission.  He  comes,  the  white-winged 
messenger  of  love,  and,  as  the  royal  chancellor  of 
heaven,  to  authenticate  the  children  of  God,  and  to 
place  upon  them  a  mark  of  distinction  as  such.  With 
an  authoritative  and  loud  voice,  he  calls  to  the  four 
angels  standing  on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth,  saying, 
"  Hurt  not  the  earth,  neither  the  sea,  nor  the  trees,  till 
we  have  sealed  the  servants  of  our  God  in  their  fore- 
heads." In  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  fifth 
angel,  the  four  angels  stay  the  winds  in  their  howlings, 
in  their  commotions,  and  in  their  work  of  desolation  and 
death,  until  the  servants  of  God  are  sealed  in  their  fore- 
heads. And  the  number  of  them  that  were  sealed  were 
an  hundred  and  forty  and  four  thousand — twelve  thous- 
and of  each  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  the  children  of 
Israel — a  great  multitude,  a  definite  number,  being  put 
for  an  indefinite.  After  this  sealing  comes  the  vision  of 
the  text,  the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  heaven.  It  is 
most  sublime  and  wonderful,  as  it  is  a  pleasing  revelation 
of  God,  and  of  the  throne  of  God,  and  of  the  Lamb 
of  God,  and  of  the  angels  of  God,  and  of  the  Church 
of  God,  redeemed  "  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  and  nation."  Such  knowledge  of  the  future 
is  derived  only  from  Revelation.  Blot  the  Bible  out  of 
existence,  and  there  hangs  a  veil  between  earth  and 
heaven,  impenetrable  alike  to  the  mind's  eye  and  to  the 


192  HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS; 

natural  vision — impenetrable  both  to  reason  and  philos- 
ophy. Human  reason,  with  all  her  boasted  and  ac- 
knowledged powers,  never  discovered  nor  revealed  a 
single  fact  in  relation  to  or  in  disclosure  of  the  future 
world.  Reason  is  great,  and  as  important  as  great, 
distinguishing  truth  from  falsehood,  vice  from  virtue, 
and  yet,  having  no  power,  unaided  by  Revelation,  to 
tell  us  anything  of  a  hereafter. 

Philosophy  may  explain  the  phenomena  of  matter, 
alike  of  heavenly  bodies  and  terrestrial  substances ; 
may  show  the  reason  and  fitness  of  things,  visible  and 
tangible ;  may  "  teach  men  their  duty,  and  the  reason 
for  it ;  "  and  may  be  a  ready  assistant  in  regulating  the 
actions  and  manners  of  men  in  society.  She  may  sink 
herself,  by  means  of  shafts,  deep  into  the  mines  of 
theology,  physics,  history,  ethics,  and  poetry,  and  bring 
up  thence  a  hidden  treasure  of  greater  price  than  pearls, 
or  diamonds,  or  gems  of  gold.  Gathered  here  and 
there,  from  these  and  other  sources,  she  may  sow  broad- 
cast literary,  scientific,  and  holy  truths  and  facts,  for 
the  instruction,  entertainment,  and  elevation  of  mankind. 
But  philosophy  knows  nothing  of  a  hereafter,  but  by 
means  of  a  revelation  from  God.  All  that  we  know  of 
heaven  as  a  place,  a  state,  its  inheritance,  inhabitants, 
associations,  employments,  honors,  pleasures,  joys,  tri- 
umphs, felicity,  glory,  grandeur,  and  immortality,  we 
learn  from  the  Bible.  But  in  the  more  particular  con- 
templation of  this  apocalyptic  vision  I  invite  your  attention. 

I.  To  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  HEAVEN. 

i.  The  angels  are  native,  and  the  oldest  inhabitants  of 


THEIR  CHARACTER  AND  EMPLOYMENT.       193 

heaven.  "  I  beheld,  and  all  the  angels  stood  round 
about  the  throne."  Angels  are  a  superior  order  of 
beings  to  man — superior  in  dignity  and  honor,  in  sub- 
limity of  character,  and  majesty  of .  person — in  their 
intellectual  and  moral  powers  and  attainments,  and  in 
the  perfection  of  their  nature,  and  in  their  native  happi- 
ness. They  excel  man  in  strength,  in  grandeur,  and  in 
glory.  In  this  contrast  I  take  man  as  I  find  him  in  his 
sinful  and  fallen  condition,  and  the  angels  as  seen  by  St. 
John  in  his  apocalyptic  vision.  If  we  were  to  contem- 
plate man  in  his  saved  state  as  a  child  of  God — in  his 
redeemed,  sanctified,  and  glorified  character  in  heaven, 
the  contrast  between  him  and  the  angels  would  not  be 
so  great ;  but  even  in  this  event  man  would  rank  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels.  But  if  we  concede  the  fact 
of  endless  progression  in  heaven,  in  knowledge  and 
happiness,  in  glory  and  honor,  then  the  time  may  come 
in  the  annals  of  eternity,  and  doubtless  will,  when  the 
most  obscure  saint  in  light  shall  have  risen  to  the 
sublimity  of  character  and  majesty  of  person  of  the 
tallest  angel  which  now  floats  in  the  atmosphere  of 
heaven  or  basks  in  its  uncreated  light  and  glory,  or 
the  brightest  seraph  "  that  adores  and  burns "  in  the 
presence  of  God. 

Another  fact  worthy  of  notice  is,  the  vastness  of  their 
numbers.  Daniel  says  of  the  Ancient  of  Days,  "  thous- 
and thousands  ministered  unto  him,  and  ten  thousand 
stood  before  him."  St.  John  heard  the  voice  of  many 
angels,  including  four  living  creatures,  and  the  four  and 
twenty  elders,  and  "  the  number  of  them  was  ten  thous- 


IQ4  HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS; 

and  times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands." 
The  Psalmist  says:  "The  chariots  of  God  are  twenty 
thousand,  even  thousands  of  angels."  These  angels,  so  vast 
in  numbers,  are  divided  into  various  ranks  and  orders — 
seraphim,  cherubim,  thrones,  dominions,  principalities, 
and  powers.  But,  for  anything  we  know,  there  may  be 
thousand  thousands  of  ranks  and  orders,  and  ten  thous- 
and times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands  in 
each  order. 

II.   ELDERS  AND  BEASTS. 

"All  the  angels  stood  round  about  the  throne,  and 
about  the  elders  and  the  four  beasts."  A  definite  for  an 
indefinite  number.  By  the  term  beasts  in  the  text  we 
are  to  understand  a  high  order  of  intelligent  and  re- 
deemed creatures.  These  elders  and  beasts  represent, 
as  some  think,  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Churches. 
Others  are  of  opinion  that  the  elders  are  the  representa- 
tives of  the  whole  Church — Jewish  and  Christian — and 
the  four  beasts  the  representatives  of  the  ministry,  or, 
perhaps,  the  ministry  itself.  My  opinion,  and  so  far  as 
I  know,  as  yet  unpublished,  is  this :  The  elders  are  the 
ministry  of  the  Church,  including  all  the  different  orders 
of  priests,  prophets,  apostles,  and  clergy,  of  every  dis- 
pensation, and  of  all  time ;  and  the  beasts,  or,  as  some 
render  the  term,  "  living  creatures,"  are  the  martyrs  of 
all  ages  and  countries.  Three  facts,  at  least,  are  clear 
to  my  mind :  First,  the  elders  and  beasts  are,  in  common 
with  others,  before  the  throne,  redeemed  to  God  by  the 
blood  of  Christ.  Second,  by  title,  their  relation  to  God, 


THEIR  CHARACTER  AND  EMPLOYMENT.       195 

and  nearness  to  the  throne,  and  for  the  reasons  given, 
and,  perhaps,  reasons  yet  unknown,  they  are  distinguished 
from  the  multitude  who  have  palms  in  their  hands,  and 
who  are  "  clothed  in  white  robes."  Third,  in  this  dis- 
tinction they  represent  not  only  the  Church  and  ministry 
of  the  different  ages  and  dispensations  of  the  world,  and 
of  all  countries  and  times,  but  "  every  kindred,  and 
tongue,  and  people,  and  nation." 

3.  A  great  multitude  which  no  man  can  number.  "  Of 
all  nations"  Christian  and  heathen,  civilized  and  bar- 
barous, ancient  and  modern  —  the  many  and  great 
nations  of  the  Roman,  Prussian,  Russian,  and  Austrian 
empires,  with  the  English  and  French,  the  American 
and  European  nations,  not  to  mention  others  who  have, 
or  may  yet  exist.  "  And  kindreds."  Abel,  Enoch,  Elijah, 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are  there.  Job  and  David 
are  there.  The  prophets  and  apostles,  as  well  as  the 
patriarchs,  are  there.  The  martyrs  and  early  Christians 
are  there.  Many  of  our  fathers  and  mothers,  and  some 
of  our  little  children,  and  other  loved  ones,  have  passed 
over  the  Jordan  of  death,  and  are  now  on  "  the  other 
bright  shore."  These  all  have  kindred  there  who  assist 
to  swell  the  happy  thiong  of  the  redeemed,  even  beyond 
all  arithmetical  or  other  powers  of  computation. 

"And people"  Noah  was  righteous  in  his  generation 
and  in  his  family,  though  the  people  of  that  age,  and 
amongst  whom  he  lived,  were  corrupt,  and  the  earth  itself 
was  filled  with  violence.  Lot  lived  and  preached  twenty- 
three  years  among  the  degenerate  people  of  the  Cities  of 
the  Plain,  which  were  afterward  destroyed  by  "  brim- 


I96  HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS; 

stone  and  fire  from  the  Lord  out  of  heaven."  Job  was 
"  perfect  and  upright "  in  his  day,  "  one  that  feared  God 
and  eschewed  evil."  When  Elijah  had  come  and  said  to 
God,  "  The  children  of  Israel  have  forsaken  thy  cove- 
nant, thrown  down  thy  altars,  and  slain  thy  prophet 
with  the  edge  of  the  sword ;  and  I,  even  I  only,  am  left, 
and  they  seek  my  life  to  take  it  away,"  the  answer  of 
God  saith  unto  him,  "  I  have  reserved  unto  myself  seven 
thousand  men  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  the 
image  of  Baal."  A  people  cannot  be  found  where  God 
has  no  witnesses.  These  that  we  have  mentioned,  and 
thousands  like  them,  from  the  midst  of  the  greatest 
wickedness  and  the  most  corrupt  and  degenerate  people 
of  all  ages  and  countries,  have  gone  up  on  high,  and  are 
before  the  throne  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb,  as 
seen  by  St.  John.  "  And  tongues."  Parthians,  Medes, 
Elemites,  Celts,  Teutons,  Cretes,  Arabians,  Greeks,  and 
Romans,  including  all  the  tongues  of  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa,  and  America.  Not  only  these,  and  all  other 
parent  tongues,  but  the  different  dialects  of  each,  have 
their  representatives  in  the  company  of  the  redeemed  in 
heaven. 

II.  THEIR  CHARACTER. 

The  elders  are  "  clothed  in  white  raiment,"  as  St.  John 
elsewhere  testifies ;  and  the  four  beasts,  or  "  living  crea- 
tures," are  redeemed  to  God  by  the  blood  of  Jesus.  In 
his  blood  they  have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them 
white.  The  great  multitude,  which  no  man  can  number, 
stand  before  the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  "  clothed 
with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands."  White  is 


THEIR  CHARACTER  AND  EMPLOYMENT.       197 

an  emblem  of  innocence  and  purity.  These  are  all  par- 
takers of  the  divine  nature,  and  are  filled  with  the  fullness 
of  God.  They  are  "  holy,  unblamable,  and  unreprov- 
able  in  his  sight."  As  to  moral  character,  they  are  as 
spotless  as  the  angels  themselves.  These  are  they  which 
came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  "  washed  their 
robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 
Therefore  are  they  before  the  throne.  Otherwise  they 
could  not  be  there.  "There  shall  in  nowise  enter  into 
it  anything  that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh 
abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie,  but  they  which  are  written 
in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life."  "  The  fearful,  and  unbeliev- 
ing, and  the  abominable,  and  murderers,  and  whore- 
mongers, and  sorcerers,  and  idolaters,  and  all  liars  shall 
have  their  part  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and 
brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death."  These,  with 
every  other  class  and  grade  of  sinners,  "  shall  go  into 
everlasting  punishment,"  the  righteous  entering  into  "  life 
eternal."  Those  only  who  are  cleansed  from  all  sin  can 
find  admission  into  heaven.  They  must  be  first  clothed 
with  white  robes.  Then  may  they  enter  into  the  joy  of 
their  Lord.  To  all  such  the  King  shall  say  :  "  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world."  They  now  "  have 
right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  enter  in  through  the  gates 
into  the  city."  All  the  different  orders  of  beings  in  heaven 
are  holy.  Heaven  itself  is  a  holy  place,  and  we  must 
be  holy  if  we  ever  get  there.  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  "  Follow  peace  with  all 
men,  and  holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the 


198  HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS; 

Lord."  The  ungodly  and  the  sinner  cannot  enter 
heaven.  It  is  a  mercy  in  God  to  shut  them  out — to 
close  the  gates  against  them.  If  God  were  to  admit 
them  into  the  kingdom  of  ultimate  glory,  of  all  places  in 
the  universe  it  would  be  to  them  the  most  miserable. 
There  must  be  a  meetness  for,  in  order  to,  the  enjoy- 
ment of  heaven.  That  meetness  is  found  only  in  moral 
purity. 

III.  THEIR  EMPLOYMENT. 

This  consists  in  praising  God.  Not  only  extolling  God 
in  songs,  but  in  words  and  deeds  as  well.  Praising  God 
consists  in  doing  his  will  rather  than  in  the  mere  utter- 
ances of  the  lips,  or  in  the  sound  of  golden  harps  attuned 
to  celestial  melody.  God  says  to  an  archangel,  go,  and 
he  goeth ;  to  a  seraphim,  come,  and  he  cometh ;  and  to 
a  redeemed  spirit  from  earth,  do  this,  and  he  doeth  it. 
All  ranks  and  orders  of  intelligences  in  heaven  do  the 
will  of  God  perfectly,  uninterruptedly,  joyously,  triumph- 
antly, and  without  pain,  weariness,  labor,  or  fatigue. 
And  as  they  thus  go,  and  come,  and  do  the  bidding  of 
God,  individually,  and  in  ranks,  and  in  orders,  and  in  great 
multitudes,  which  no  man  can  number,  they  fill  all  heaven 
with  their  shouts  and  songs  of  praise.  These  acts  of  obe- 
dience involve  the  principles  and  exercise  of  faith  and 
love.  The  achievements  of  these  will  be  grand  and 
glorious  beyond  conception.  Of  their  methods  we  know 
nothing.  Here,  our  faith  in  God  removes  mountains, 
our  love  to  him  is  supreme,  and  our  obedience  to  the 
divine  will  ready,  active,  cheerful,  and  even  unto  death  ; 
but  there,  the  same  in  kind,  these  will  be  so  exalted  in 


THEIR  CHARACTER  AND  EMPLOYMENT.       199 

degree  as  to  be  marvellous  beyond  the  highest  concep- 
tions of  the  human  mind,  and  astonishing,  no  doubt,  to 
the  angels  and  all  the  celestial  hierarchy.     In  ten  thou- 
sand ways  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  show  their  faith  in, 
with  their  love  and  obedience  to,  God.     There,  as  here, 
the  mind  and  heart  alike  are  ever  active  and  ever  em- 
ployed.    In  heaven  subjects  of  thought,  meditation,  and 
research  abound  in  infinite  variety.    Among  these  I  may 
mention  creation,  providence,  and    redemption.      The 
study  of  God  in  the  works  of  creation  is  a  delightful  em- 
ployment of  this  life.     The  mind,  in  its  God-like  powers, 
supported  by,  and  all  aglow  with  the  fires  of  immortality, 
rises  in  thought  and  towers  in  imagination  as  it  grasps 
the  countless  mysteries  of  creation.     In  its  search  for 
hidden  treasure  it  passes  from  world  to  world,  from  one 
system  to  another,  stepping  from  planet  to  planet,  from 
sun  to  sun,  from  one  blazing  comet  to  another,  on  and 
on,  through  known  into  unknown  regions,  traversing  the 
infinitude  of  space ;  knowing  more  and  more  of  God  as 
it  receives  and  comprehends  the   nature,  extent,  prin- 
ciples, and  properties  of  the  works  of  his  hand.     And  in 
this  labor,  when  the  mind  has  reached  the  utmost  limits 
of  the  telescopic  view  of  the  astronomer,  it  stands  just 
where  these  works  and  worlds,  in  number  and  magni- 
tude, begin  to  open   to  its  astonished  vision.     Beyond 
these  limits,  throughout  infinite  space,  God  is ;  and  where 
God  is  are  the  works  of  his  hand,  exhibiting  his  skill, 
goodness,  wisdom,  and  almighty  power.      And  shall  I 
know  nothing  more  of  the  creative  energy  of  God,  which 
has  called  the  universe  into  existence,  than  may  be  known 


200  HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS; 

in  this  life  ?  Is  this  all  the  knowledge  that  I  shall  ever 
have  of  the  products  and  glory,  the  sublimity  and 
grandeur  of  that  almighty  power  ?  Shall  not  the  treas- 
ures of  knowledge  arising  from  this  source  rather  in- 
crease with  the  rolling  ages  of  an  eternal  future  ?  So  I 
think.  Much  more  will  the  mind  delight  itself  in  God, 
and  in  the  study  of  his  works,  when  mortality  is  swal- 
lowed up  of  life.  This  work  will  afford  the  most  delight- 
ful employment  to  glorified  spirits  in  heaven.  Each 
avenue  of  knowledge  will  constitute  a  ready  medium  of 
access  to  God. 

But  from  the  works  of  creation  let  us  turn  and  con- 
template the  providences  of  God.  These  are  mysterious 
as  his  works  are  vast  and  incomprehensible.  Of  God's 
providences  we  know  but  little  in  this  life.  We  shall 
know  more  hereafter.  Each  successive  age  and  develop- 
ment of  eternity  will  bring  opportunities  and  means  of 
increased  knowledge.  Connected  with  our  history  in  the 
past  are  providences  to  us  now  dark  and  mysterious.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  river  of  death,  and,  it  may  be,  after 
ages  of  study  and  research  on  our  part,  these  will  become 
intelligible,  both  to  our  understanding  and  our  hearts. 
The  divine  counsels  and  government  will  no  longer  be 
hid  from  our  comprehension,  but  clearly  and  perfectly 
understood.  Through  a  duration  admitting  no  limit  we 
shall  trace  with  infinite  delight  and  satisfaction  the  prov- 
idences of  God  in  their  infinitude  of  numbers  and  mys- 
teries. And  from  this  source  will  arise  a  knowledge  of 
God,  endlessly  cumulative,  showing  the  justice  and  equity 
of  his  superintending  care  over  his  works,  and  especially 


THEIR  CHARACTER  AND  EMPLOYMENT.       201 

the  sentient  beings  of  his  creation.  Indeed,  all  the  per- 
fections of  God,  as  I  conceive,  enter  into  and  are 
stamped  upon  his  providences.  To  know  one  is  to  know 
the  other.  To  study  and  understand  the  providences  of 
God  is  to  know  God.  And  this  is  the  pleasing  employ- 
ment of  the  inhabitants  of  heaven.  Through  this  medium 
they  trace  in  lines  of  living  light  the  unity,  spirituality, 
eternity,  omniscience,  omnipotence,  omnipresence,  immu- 
tability, holiness,  truth,  justice,  and  goodness  of  the  Divine 
Being,  as  these  are  connected  with  his  works  and  ways  in 
all  the  ages  past,  and  in  the  eternity  yet  to  come.  There 
we  shall  see  the  dealings  of  God  with  us  in  a  clearer,  if  not 
in  a  new  light.  All  his  providences  will  be  shown  to  be 
both  wise  and  good,  alike  just  and  merciful.  And  to 
search  out  the  knowledge  of  God  in  these  will  be  an  em- 
ployment at  once  entertaining  as  it  will  be  useful  and 
blessed  in  its  results.  And  with  the  increase  of  knowl- 
edge the  praise  of  God  will  wax  louder  and  louder.  All 
knowledge  of  God,  from  whatever  source  derived,  must 
culminate  in  songs  of  praise,  or  in  shouts  of  victory  and 
of  triumph,  to  Him  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto 
the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever. 

The  pealing  anthems  of  loudest  note  and  most  harmo- 
nious and  sweetest  melody,  however,  originate  in  the 
study  and  understanding  of  the  plan  of  human  redemp- 
tion, as  it  shall  open  to  the  comprehension  of  those  who 
have  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  who  have  entered  in 
through  the  gates  into  the  city.  Study  to  these  will  be 
no  weariness,  but  a  source  of  ravishing  and  endless 
pleasure.  The  great  remedial  scene  of  redemption,  in  its 
14 


202  HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS; 

fundamental  principles,  doctrines,  promises,  exhortations, 
and  threatenings,  will  constitute  so  many  mines  of  inex- 
haustible wealth.  To  develop  and  enjoy  this  treasure  is 
the  work  of  immortal  and  glorified  spirits.  To  all  such  the 
Bible,  in  its  history,  poetry,  biographies,  prophecies,  and 
their  fulfillment,  will  be  a  theme  of  immortal  thought  and 
investigation,  and  a  source  of  ineffable  delight. 

In  the  process  of  a  study  and  research  such  as  this  will 
be  embraced  the  subjects  of  redemption,  as  well  as  its 
principles  and  its  Author.  These  include  patriarchs, 
prophets,  apostles,  and  martyrs,  with  the  great  multitude 
seen  by  St.  John  in  the  vision  of  the  text.  Allowing  that 
the  character  and  lives,  the  experience  and  history  of 
these  may  be  studied  separately,  in  their  relation  to  God, 
and  as  subjects  of  his  saving  and  redeeming  grace,  a 
treasure  of  infinite  knowledge,  and  of  infinitude  ot  variety, 
is  in  store  for  those  who  shall  join  the  blood-washed 
throng  in  heaven.  Here  again  we  find  God  revealed  in 
all  the  perfections  of  his  nature,  in  a  manner  inconceiva- 
bly beyond  human  and  angelic  grasp.  And  from  this 
standpoint  the  new  song  is  sung  in  louder,  sweeter  strains : 
"  Unto  Him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  and  his  Father ;  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion 
for  ever  and  ever.  Amen."  Here  culminates  the  love  of 
God  in  its  designs,  its  workings,  and  its  results. 

Reader, 

"  There  is  a  world  above 

Formed  for  the  good  alone." 
Let  us  aspire  to  be 

"Translated  to  that  glorious  sphere." 


THEIR  CHARACTER  AND  EMPLOYMENT.        203 

Many  of  our  fathers  and  mothers  have  already  crossed 
"  the  flood."  Some  of  our  dear  children,  too,  are  there 
on  the  other  bright  shore.  They  swell  the  number  and 
song  of  the  millions  of  infant  souls  who  compose  the 
family  above.  Millions  more  are  now  on  the  way.  These 
all  expect  to  die  in  the  faith,  and  to  go  up  with  a  shout 
to  heaven.  A  conquest  of  greater  magnitude  this,  and 
amidst  shoutings  of  sweeter  notes  and  louder  strains  than 
was  ever  heard  on  the  battle-field  in  the  overthrow  of 
nations,  or  in  the  falling  of  empires  before  the  tread  of 
conquering  kings.  Amidst  the  breaking  throes  and 
mournful  scenes  of  death,  by  saints  of  all  ages,  the  vic- 
tor's song  has  been  sung  :  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ? 
O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?"  And  this  song  will  con- 
tinue to  be  sung  by  Christian  pilgrims,  as  one  by  one  they 
pass  over  the  river  of  death,  to  the  end  of  time.  Flushed 
with  victory,  and  all  radiant  with  heavenly  glory,  the 
divine  plaudit  will  be  received,  and  the  approved  soul 
will  enter  into  the  joy  of  its  Lord — a  joy  which  no  tongue 
can  tell,  no  mind  conceive,  no  pen  describe — wondrous, 
ineffable,  eternal !  One  by  one  we  have  seen  them  bid 
the  world  adieu,  saying,  "All  is  well  with  me  forever." 
Their  testimony  was  in  this,  and  language  like  it :  "  These 
are  the  happiest  moments  of  my  life."  (Leeper.)  "  I  will 
soon  be  on  the  other  shore.  I  will  soon  be  at  rest." 
(Caples.)  "Oil  am  so  happy  to  die.  I  shall  soon  be 
in  heaven.  They  are  waiting  for  me — they  are  calling 
me.  Don't  you  see  that  bright  company  ?  They  are 
here,  all  around  me.  What  a  large,  beautiful  house! 
What  a  large  gate  !  What  a  beautiful  place !  O  what  a 


204  HEAVEN  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS. 

lovely  home  !  and  I  shall  be  there  soon.  I  never  was  so 
happy  in  my  life.  O  mother,  it  is  sweet  to  die — so  sweet 
to  die."  (Dozier.)  Reader,  when  our  heart-strings  are 
breaking,  may  we  thus  die. 

I'm  dying,  dying ! 
Hark !  methinks  I  hear  the  sound 
Of  lyric  voice  and  golden  harps, 
Sweet,  united  strains  of  praise — 
Rapturous,  transporting  songs, 
Of  angelic  melody. 

I'm  happy,  happy ! 
Raise  me  up.     I  see  bright  forms, 
All  blood-washed  and  robed  in  white  ; 
See  their  glittering  crowns  of  gold, 
And  their  palms  of  victory. 
O  glory !  glory  !  glory ! 

Jesus  quickly  comes — 
Comes  to  take  his  servant  home, 
Comes  to  free  from  pain  and  death, 
Comes  a  glorious  conqueror  ! 
Hail !  thou  blessed  Jesus,  hail ! 
O  glory,  halleluiah ! 

I  tear  not  to  die  : 
Bear  me  to  yon  courts  above, 
Ye  angelic,  waiting  bands  ; 
Let  me  go.     Adieu.     I  rise 
To  eternal  happiness — 
To  God  and  to  his  people's  rest. 


XIII. 
BAPTISM   OF   JESUS  CHRIST. 

BY  REV.  J.  A.  MURPHY, 
Of   West   St.    Louis    Conference. 


"Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  to  Jordan  unto  John,  to  be 
baptized  of  him." — MATT.  iii.  13. 

There  are  no  obsolete  paragraphs  in  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  all  and  every  part  there  are  lessons  fraught 
with  doctrinal  and  practical  instruction.  Some  phases  of 
his  wondrous  life  are  imitable,  others  inimitable.  When 
acting  in  the  character  and  sphere  of  a  man,  his  life  be- 
comes the  model  of  human  excellence,  the  beau-ideal  of 
attainable  and  imitable  perfection,  himself  the  lone  exem- 
plar of  a  numberless  race.  Any  activities  which  attach 
to  his  mediatorial  campaign  are  anomalous — "  of  the 
people  there  was  none  with  him."  In  this  he  is  alone ; 
no  one  having  preceded  him,  none  to  follow  after  him. 
Beings  create,  nor  men,  nor  angels,  are  like  unto  him. 
Assuming  a  nature  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  yet  their 
highest  honor  is  to  do  him  homage.  Though  infinitely 
above  us,  he  bears  our  image  and  is  one  with  us.  His 
mission  as  the  God-man  in  the  kingdom  of  redeeming 
grace  is,  in  whole  and  every  part,  anomalous,  and  all  his 
actions  relating  thereto  are  inimitable,  because  they  are 
official. 


206  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

It  concerns  us  to  know  whether  our  Lord's  conduct  at 
the  Jordan  was  done  in  his  character  as  a  man  or  relative 
to  his  anomalous  character  as  mediator  between  God  and 
man.  In  order  to  reach  a  conclusion  in  truth  let  us 
inquire : 

I.  What  was  the  design  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus  Christ 
at  the  hands  of  John  ? 

i.  By  this  solemn  and  impressive  performance  it  was 
not  intended  to  place  upon  him  the  token  of  the  covenant 
of  grace.  The  general  government  of  God  is  a  sublime, 
a  pure  theocracy,  whose  law  is  one  —  supreme  love  to 
God  and  love  to  one  another.  This  obtains  in  sinless 
realms,  as  subordinate  law  is  germain  to  regions  where 
the  supreme  law  is  violated,  and  sin  thus  existent.  This 
sublime  government  per  se  makes  no  provision  for  trans- 
gressors. But  the  kingdom  of  God  is  adjunct  to  it,  and 
in  eternal  constitution  with  it.  This  kingdom  is  the  uni- 
versal indemnity  to  the  general  government,  of  which  it 
is  an  original  part.  It  vindicates  the  Divine  goodness  in 
the  creation  of  beings  possible  to  sin,  and  contemplates 
the  possible  extension  of  mercy  to  offenders.  Over  this 
kingdom  the  Eternal  Son  of  God  presides.  In  making 
his  kingdom  available  in  the  earth,  where  sin  had  invaded 
the  divine  realm,  and  cursed  by  a  single  stroke  the  mighty 
race  of  human  beings,  it  behooved  him  to  become  a  man, 
"  that  through  death  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death — that  is,  the  devil.  And  for  this  purpose 
the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil,"  and  thus  become  Jesus  Christ  the 
Savior  of  men.  In  providing  for  his  incarnation,  a  cove- 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  207 

nant  was  made  with  Abraham,  a  distinctive  feature  of 
which  was  that  Christ  should  be  born  in  the  line  of  his 
numerous  descendants.  "  He  saith  not,  and  to  seeds  as 
of  many,  but  as  of  one ;  and  to  thy  seed  which  is  Christ." 
Circumcision  was  the  "  token  of  this  covenant,"  and  dis- 
tinctively of  this  prime  feature.  When,  therefore,  God 
"  had  performed  his  promise  to  the  fathers,  and  remem- 
bered his  holy  covenant,"  circumcision  ceased  as  a  token , 
and  baptism  substituted  it  as  a  seal  of  the  righteousness 
of  faith.  Observant  of  their  high  obligations,  Joseph  and 
Mary  placed  upon  Him  tke  covenant  taken  "  when  eight 
days  were  accomplished  for  the  circumcision  of  the  child.'' 
Therefore  his  baptism  could  have  no  relation  whatever 
to  his  compliance  with  covenant  stipulations,  as  these  had 
been  attended  to  thirty  years  before.  We  must,  then, 
look  elsewhere  for  an  explanation  of  this  singular  trans- 
action at  the  Jordan. 

2.  It  was  not  designed  to  stamp  with  divine  authority 
either  the  mission  of  John  or  that  of  himself.  At  this 
period  of  his  life  he  was  without  the  prestige  of  popular 
confidence  himself.  No  demonstrative  visitation  from 
heaven  had  distinguished  his  career  since,  from  the  plains 
of  Judea,  the  angels  had  taken  their  upward  flight,  shout- 
ing, "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest !"  The  privacy  of 
thirty  years  was  not  interpolated  by  supernatural  and  ex- 
traordinary events,  so  that  by  coming  to  John's  baptism 
his  recognition  and  patronage  would  give  it  a  divine 
sanction. 

Besides,  to  have  given  John  the  advantage  of  his  ex- 


208  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

ample,  he  should  have  been  among  the  first  to  be  bap- 
tized ;  but  "  when  all  the  people  were  baptized  it  came  to 
pass  that  Jesus,  also  being  baptized  and  praying,  the 
heaven  was  opened."  The  last  grand  and  crowning  act 
of  John  was  "  to  manifest  him  to  Israel,  before  he  was 
victimized  by  the  revengeful  spirit  of  Herodias,  as  the  last 
distinctive  act  of  his  life.  He  could  have  pleaded  no  divine 
authority  from  this  to  profit  withal,  as  it  came  too  late. 
Neither  is  the  divine  authority  with  which  Jesus  acted 
relegated  to  his  baptism.  Ecclesiastical  authority  is  an- 
other thing,  and  must  not  be  confounded  with  divine 
authority.  He  refers  with  distinctness  to  his  miraculous 
works  as  his  credentials  under  which  he  acted  as  the  sent 
from  God,  saying,  "  Else  believe  me  for  the  very  works' 
sake.  But  I  have  greater  witness  than  that  of  John  ;  for 
the  works  which  the  Father  hath  given  me  to  finish — the 
same  works  that  I  do — bear  witness  of  me  that  the  Father 
hath  sent  me."  His  wondrous  works  proceed  naturally 
from  his  wondrous  person,  which  is  the  one  sublime  and 
unaccountable  exception  to  the  universal  experience  of 
mankind.  In  divine  calmness,  and  without  effort  in  the 
realms  of  the  supernatural  and  miraculous,  he  moved  like 
the  sun  above  the  clouds  of  human  passion  and  turmoil 
that  sailed  in  commotion  beneath  him.  It  was  an  inward 
virtue,  and  not  a  borrowed  gift,  that  dwelt  richly  within 
him,  so  that  the  fringe  of  his  garment  was  healing  to  the 
touch.  The  unprecedented  and  matchless  order  of  his 
life  is  inexplicable  alone  from  the  divinity  that  dwelt  within 
him.  This  shone  upon  his  works  in  dazzling  splendor, 
like  the  true  Shekinah,  and  satisfactorily  accounts  for  the 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  209 

wonderful  phenomena  of  his  history,  whether  he  moved 
in  the  din  and  bustle  of  the  day,  the  object  of  Pharisaical 
criticism,  or  at  nightfall  withdrew  for  communion  with 
the  Father  in  the  solitude.of  the  mountain,  or  where  the 
utterances  of  tired  nature  were  lost  in  the  murmurs  of 
the  sweet-gliding  Kedron.  Himself  being  wonderful — 
the  greatest  miracle  in  universal  history — the  miraculous 
he  accomplished  as  naturally  as  we  perform  our  ordinary 
work.  These  mighty  works,  then,  which  did  show  forth 
themselves  in  him,  and  not  his  baptismal  manifestation 
by  John,  are  the  accredited  witness  of  divine  authority, 
by  which  his  life  was  rendered  a  singular  and  mysterious 
fact. 

3.  The  sinless  character  of  Jesus  Christ  precludes  the 
possibility  of  placing  his  baptism  in  common  with  the 
multitudes  that  came  to  the  regions  of  the  Jordan.  From 
the  untarnished  purity  of  childhood,  through  a  notable 
life,  which  was  the  glory  of  friends  and  the  confusion  of 
enemies,  we  look  in  vain  for  a  single  fact  against  which 
an  allegation  of  wrong-doing  may  be  sustained.  His 
worshipers  have  been  untiring  in  their  laudations  of  his 
spotless  purity,  while  foes,  conscience-smitten,  have  been 
forced  to  say,  "  I  find  no  fault  in  this  man."  His  chal- 
lenge, "  Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin?"  remains 
to  this  day  unaccepted.  And  through  all  the  wonderful 
transactions  attending  his  passion,  unspeaking  nature,  by 
symbols  that  betokened  mysterious  sympathy,  paid  an 
unconscious  tribute  to  the  innocence  of  the  condemned 
and  dying  Christ.  Fearless  John,  whose  denunciations 
of  sin  were  uttered  in  unmeasured  terms  before  the  con- 


2 TO  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

course  that  thronged  his  ministry,  modestly  recoiled  in 
the  presence  of  the  sinless  Savior,  saying,  "  I  have  need 
to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and  cotnest  thou  to  me  ?"  It  is  a 
singular  fact  that  can  be  affirmed  of  no  other  being,  "  in 
fashion  as  a  man,"  that  he  tested  all  the  realities  of  a  true 
human  life  where  sin  abounded,  giving  forth  a  transcendent 
expression  of  essential  virtue  in  the  walks  of  men,  and 
in  the  very  moment  of  expiring  agony  extorted  from  un- 
willing lips  the  just  confession,  "  Truly  this  man  was  the 
Son  of  God."  The  heavens  do  not  rise  in  starry  grandeur 
above  the  earth  as  the  beauty  of  holiness  in  the  life  of 
Christ  mounts  up  in  infinite  splendor  above  the  corrup- 
tion of  a  fallen  race.  How  extreme  from  this  high  char- 
acter of  pure  virtue  were  the  unselected  crowds  who 
came  in  curious  anxiety  to  the  preacher  in  the  wilderness. 
Every  hue  of  moral  turpitude  tinging  the  actions  of  men 
commingled  in  that  dark  stream  which  suggested  the 
poison  of  a  "  generation  of  vipers."  They  came  "  con- 
fessing their  sins,"  for  they  were  sinners.  He,  the  Lamb, 
of  God,  "knew  no  sin."  To  them  the  mission  of  the 
Baptist  was,  practically,  repentance  of  sin,  to  which  bap- 
tism with  water  was  a  public  pledge;  to  him  this  could 
not  apply,  for  he  was  "  separate  from  sinners."  The  mis- 
sion of  John  was  clearly  of  dual  design.  It  had  to  do 
with  the  people  as  toward  Christ.  It  had  to  do  with 
Christ  as  toward  the  people.  It  is  simply  impossible  that 
the  design  of  his  baptism  should  fall  to  the  level  of  theirs, 
for  which  reason  "  John  forbade  him,"  not  comprehend- 
ing the  limits  of  his  own  mission.  It  could  not  be 
that  the  sinless  Christ  should  come  to  a  baptism  of  re- 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  211 

pentance.     The  action  would  have  been  insincere,  and  of 
this  he  was  incapable. 

4.  It  is  a  groundless  assumption  to  say  that  He  was 
baptized  for  an  example  to  believers.  When  one  holds 
a  proposition  which  is  utterly  devoid  of  evidence,  it  is 
not  faith,  but  opinion  by  which  he  clings.  True  faith  rests 
upon  evidence ;  mere  opinion  exists  without  it.  That 
there  is  an  opinion,  to  some  extent,  made  popular  by 
baseless  assertion,  that  the  Lord  was  baptized  for  our  ex- 
ample, none  will  deny.  But  that  this  should  be  dignified 
as  an  article  of  faith,  and  held  to  be  an  unanswerable 
argument,  that  in  some  way  bars  the  free  and  universal 
communion  of  the  saints,  is  an  out-cropping  of  unsuffer- 
able  arrogance.  As  it  is  not  claimed  that  a  negative  is 
susceptible  of  direct  testimony,  the  onus  probandi  is  not 
with  us ;  but  in  vain  have  we  sought  for  proof  on  the 
other  side.  If  this  transaction  has  all  the  exemplary  im- 
portance its  adherents  attach  to  it,  the  utter  silence  of 
the  Scriptures  is  surprisingly  significant.  Neither  the 
Savior  nor  his  apostles  interpreted  this  action  thus.  Not 
a  single  text,  even  by  doubtful  interpretation,  sustains  it. 
As  a  necessary  inference  from  the  harmony  of  Bible 
truths,  it  utterly  fails  the  most  sagacious  of  its  advocates. 
It  was  born  in  dogmatic  assertion,  and  lives  only  by  con- 
stant repetition.  Beginning  on  the  outer  line  of  investi- 
gation, where  alone  the  evidence  could  be  found,  let  us 
approach  the  centre  by  steady  steps  of  inquiry.  The 
senior  apostle  of  our  Lord  declares  how  Christ  suffered 
for  us,  "  leaving  us  an  example."  But  it  will  be  clearly 
seen  that  the  example  was  in  suffering,  not  baptism,  in 


212         .  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

heroic  endurance,  not  in  an  outward  ceremony.  He  must 
ignore  the  plainest  canons  of  exegesis  who  can  see  the 
waters  of  Jordan  in  this.  It  was  just  before  the  Feast  of 
the  Passover,  at  which  our  Lord  was  crucified,  that  he 
inculcated  practically  a  lesson  of  Christian  love,  which 
he  closed  by  saying,  "  I  have  given  you  an  example." 
But  this  has  no  more  reference  to  his  baptism  than  his 
crucifixion.  Indeed,  it  must  be  a  mental  mirage  that 
could  lift  this  circumstance  within  the  purview  of  imagi- 
nation, so  that  John  and  the  Jordan  could  be  seen. 
"  Follow  me,"xand  we  have  traveled  from  circumference 
to  centre  of  the  domain  of  possible  proof,  but  the  evi- 
dence of  an  exemplary  baptism  in  the  person  of  Christ 
passes  like  a  phantom  away.  A  few  points  will  aid  us 
in  the  true  application  of  this  language  :  i.  It  originated 
with  Christ  soon  after  his  baptism.  2.  Its  first  applica- 
tion was  to  the  college  of  apostles.  3.  It  could  apply  to 
them  in  a  sense  in  which  it  could  not  apply  to  us,  but  in 
every  particular  its  bearing  upon  us  was  common  to  them. 
Now,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  they  did  not  follow  him  in 
the_/#<r/of  his  baptism,  to  say  nothing  of  its  design,  how 
can  it  be  made  an  example  for  us  ?  We  are  baffled  with 
uncertainty  as  to  the  baptism  of  the  original  apostles  of 
our  Lord.  But  this  lack  of  knowledge  does  not  frustrate 
the  argument.  They  were  baptized,  or  they  were  not. 
If  they  were,  it  must  have  been  in  common,  when  "  Je- 
rusalem and  all  Judea  and  all  the  regions  round  about 
Jordan"  sought  the  baptism  of  repentance.  Then  it  fol- 
lows that  they  led  the  way  in  this  particular  duty,  and 
He  followed  them,  for  he  came  to  John  "  when  all  the 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  213 

people  were  baptized."  If  they  were  not  baptized  at  all, 
they  were  either  disobedient  to  their  Lord's  command,  or 
baptism  was  not  included  in  it.  In  either  case,  then, 
they  did  not  follow  Christ  in  the  fact  of  his  baptism. 
Therefore,  the  call  of  Jesus,  "  follow  me,"  did  not  include 
his  baptism,  as  shown  in  the  conduct  of  the  apostles; 
neither  can  it  be  rightly  claimed  as  an  example  for  us. 

Literally,  they  followed  him  in  the  course  of  his  public 
life.  No  theological  school  can  afford  such  training. 
Never  were  men  so  thoroughly  taught  in  the  truths  of 
sound  morals  and  pure  religion  as  these.  Three  years 
under  the  instruction  and  personal  tutelage  of  the  Great 
Teacher,  as  a  privilege,  surpasses  the  combined  learning 
of  all  the  universities  of  modern  Christendom.  Not  until 
they  had  completed  their  course,  and  had  been  graduated 
with  the  endowment  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  they  sent 
forth  as  "  fishers  of  men. "  For  this  purpose  they  were 
called  to  "  follow  him."  What  a  noble  example  in  the 
careful  preparation  for  the  ministry  ! 

5.  It  was  a  ceremonial  washing  that  inducted  him 
into  his  office,  as  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  accord- 
ing to  law.  This  was  official,  and,  therefore,  inimitable. 
As  his  death  was  accomplished  by  his  priesthood,  so 
was  his  baptism  in  order  to  it.  They  who  are  zealous  to 
imitate  him  at  the  Jordan  say  but  little  about  following 
him  in  the  fact  of  his  crucifixion,  yet  both  are  on  the 
same  line  of  his  marvellous  life.  Where  they  could,  they 
refuse  to  imitate  his  example  in  infant  consecration  to 
God  and  recognition  as  a  member  of  the  Church,  ac- 
cording to  the  ordinance  that  then  existed ;  and  where 


214  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

they  cannot,  they  are  anxious  above  measure.    Truly  the 
divine  order  is  inverted. 

His  incarnation  was  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
priesthood.  So  grand  a  stoop  to  the  level  of  men,  "  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels,"  was  not  needed  to  execute 
his  office  as  the  Prophet  of  God ;  nor  yet  was  it  requisite 
to  the  reign  of  the  King  Immortal.  These  could  have 
been  fulfilled,  and  the  manger  have  known  no  child  and 
the  cross  no  victim.  But  for  the  purposes  of  his  priest- 
hood a  body  was  prepared  him.  And  in  "  the  offering 
of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,"  as  he  officiated  alone  at  the 
altar  of  a  ruined  world,  the  dreaded  thunders  of  eternal 
justice  were  silenced,  and  the  music  of  myriad  voices 
sang  sweetly,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain." 

Some  facts  which  amount  to  circumstantial  evidence 
in  support  of  the  position  taken  may  be  adduced.  At 
two  periods  of  his  life  the  age  of  Jesus  is  definitely  pointed 
out.  When  the  superior  wisdom  of  his  boyhood  aston- 
ished the  doctors  in  the  temple  he  was  about  twelve. 
At  the  time  of  his  baptism  "  he  began  to  be  about  thirty 
years  of  age."  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  ceremonial 
code  fixed  the  age  of  the  consecration  of  a  priest  "  from 
thirty  years  old  and  upward  ....  of  every  one  that 
came  to  do  the  service  of  the  ministry,  and  the  service 
of  the  burden  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation.""  It 
is  a  coincidence  of  legal  significance  that  Christ,  as  well 
as  his  forerunner,  began  his  public  career  at  the  age  fixed 
by  the  authority  of  the  Jewish  ritual.  In  this  view  of  the 
subject  he  gives  us  a  noble  example  of  ecclesiastical  loy- 
alty. But  if  this  action  be  construed  as  a  religious  ex- 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  215 

ample  in  joining  the  Church,  his  age  would  encourage 
the  procrastination  rather  than  youthful  consecration  to 
God,  and  his  example  thus  come  in  conflict  with  his 
teaching.  Besides,  we  learn  from  the  case  of  the  twelve 
Ephesians,  that  the  baptism  of  John  and  that  by  the 
command  of  Christ  are  not  one  and  the  same ;  that 
the  former  was  a  pledge  of  repentance,  the  latter  the 
effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  These  men  having  received 
the  one  under  the  authority  and  instruction  of  Paul,  sub- 
mitted to  the  other.  Therefore,  in  any  statement  of  the 
case,  a  baptism  by  John  would  fail  to  be  an  example  for 
us,  as  his  mission  has  long  since  ceased.  In  fact,  this  idea 
is  but  the  chimera  of  a  tottering  system,  the  flimsy  fig- 
ment of  struggling  error. 

The  administrator  is  brought  to  our  view  in  this  line  of 
thought.  John  was  the  son  of  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth, 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  Born  of  the  tribe  consecrated  to 
the  priesthood,  his  father  a  priest  officiating  in  the 
temple  when  his  illustrious  career  was  announced,  he 
was  himself  a  priest.  His  authority,  as  vested  in  the  ritual 
of  the  Church,  was  never  questioned.  He  had,  there- 
fore, an  undisputed  right  to  consecrate  our  Lord  to  the 
priesthood  of  the  Church  according  to  law.  The  two- 
fold mission  of  the  Baptist  was  logically  convertible.  He 
came  to  prepare  the  people  tor  the  coming  of  Christ. 
This  he  did  by  the  baptism  of  repentance.  The  converse 
is  also  true.  He  came  to  prepare  Christ  for  the  coming 
of  the  people.  This  he  did  by  publicly  manifesting  the 
Savior  in  the  ceremonial  washing  of  his  consecration  to  the 
priesthood.  To  this  agrees  the  testimony  of  John,  "  that 


216  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

He  should  be  made  manifest  to  Israel ;  therefore  am  I 
come  baptizing  with  water." 

There  is  also  direct  testimony  which  sustains  this 
proposition.  Jesus  Christ  fully  comprehended  the  whole 
subject,  and  his  testimony  is  that  he  came  to  John  to 
fulfill  the  righteousness  of  law.  "  Thus  it  becometh  us 
to  fulfill  all  righteousness."  Righteousness  relates  to 
law,  and  there  are  but  two  codes  of  law  delivered  to 
men  by  divine  authority — the  moral  and  the  ceremonial. 
There  can  be  no  reference  in  this  transaction  to  the 
moral  law,  as  it  neither  declares  nor  implies  any  such 
thing.  The  absurdity  of  such  a  view  is  too  patent  to 
require  refutation.  It  must  and  does,  therefore,  have  to 
do  with  the  ceremonial  law.  Now,  as  Aaron  was  the 
first  to  be  consecrated,  and  for  this  reason  the  head  of 
the  line  under  this  law,  we  will  state  the  law  in  question, 
and  also  its  fulfillment.  "  And  Aaron  and  his  sons  thou 
shalt  bring  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  shalt  wash  them  with  water."  This  is 
the  law.  And  here  is  its  fulfillment :  "  And  Moses  brought 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  washed  them  with  water."  At 
first  John  hesitated  from  a  sense  of  his  personal  un- 
worthiness,  not  seeing  the  fitness  of  the  sinless  Savior 
coming  to  a  baptism  of  repentance,  nor  yet  compre- 
hending that  branch  of  his  mission  which  manifested 
Christ  by  formal  consecration  to  the  priesthood;  but 
when  the  Savior  pointed  out  the  righteousness  needful  to 
be  fulfilled,  the  explanation  was  satisfactory.  He  com- 
prehended that  branch  of  his  mission  he  had  not  under- 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  217 

stood  before.     Modesty  bows  before  the  majesty  of  law. 
"  Then  he  suffered  him." 

It  has  long  been  conceded  that  fidelity  to  the  estab- 
lished order  of  the  Church  is  in  harmony  with  the 
principles  that  govern  Christian  conduct.  Divine 
authority  for  any  course  of  life  does  not  contravene 
the  authority  vested  in  the  Church.  Rightfully  exercised, 
these  are  in  eternal  harmony.  The  High  Priest  of  our 
profession,  acting  under  authority  from  God,  acted  also 
under  authority  from  the  Church.  But  if  this  latter 
authority  was  not  derived  formally  through  the  transac- 
tion at  the  Jordan,  then  when,  where,  and  how  did 
he  obtain  it  ?  In  a  single  interview  with  "  the  chief 
priests  and  the  elders  of  the  people"  he  so  strongly 
intimates  the  source  of  this  branch  of  his  authority  as  to 
remove  all  doubt.  He  was  teaching  in  the  temple 
when  they  came  to  him  inquiring,  "  By  what  authority 
doest  thou  these  things  ?  and  who  gave  thee  this 
authority  ? "  His  only  reply  was,  "  The  baptism  of 
John,  whence  was  it  ? — from  heaven  or  of  men  ?  "  This 
is  almost  equivalent  to  a  declaration.  They  understood 
it  so,  and  withdrew  in  confusion.  Thus  destroying  no 
law,  he  fulfilled  it  all ;  and  possessing  all  authority,  he 
silenced  the  cavil  of  his  foes,  and  came  to  the  sacrifice 
of  himself  more  like  a  God  than  a  man.  The  priest 
was  the  sacrifice,  and  the  sacrifice  the  priest.  It  was  a 
sublime  and  blessed  mystery.  The  instrument  of  his 
death  is  the  exponent  of  his  work,  and  the  shame  of  his 
"  cross  rises  to  the  majestic  support  of  a  falling  universe. 
The  mourning  veil  which  concealed  the  face  of  weeping 
15 


218  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

nature  when  the  Sacrifice    was    slain  was  mysteriously 
rent  to  exhibit  the  smile  of  a  ransomed  world. 

II.  What  is  the  import  of  the  certificate  of  the 
Father's  approval  at  the  ceremonial  washing  ? 

i.  Involved  in  this  is  the  anointing  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  was  given  to  him  not  by  measure,  and 
symbolized  in  the  descent  of  the  heavenly  dove.  An- 

.,  other  significant  part  in  the  ceremonial  consecration  of 
the  Aaronic  priesthood  was,  to  "  take  the  anointing  oil 

«  and  pour  it  upon  his  head  and  anoint  him."  In  the 
ceremony  at  Jordan  this  was  omitted.  No  precious 
oil  poured  forth  upon  the  head  of  Christ,  "  ran  down  to 
the  skirts  of  his  garments,  as  the  dew  of  Hermon,  and  as 
the  dew  that  descended  upon  the  mountains  of  Zion ;  " 
but  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  measureless  effusion,  proceeding 
from  the  Father  "  and  lighting  upon  him,"  was  the  real 
anointing  to  which  the  symbol  pointed  since  the  days  of 
Aaron.  Of  the  anointed  of  God  the  Scripture  saith, 
"  God,  even  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of 
gladness  above  thy  fellows."  But  who  were  the  fellows 
of  Christ,  our  atoning  High  Priest  ?  Certainly  not  the 
mass  of  mankind,  for  the  relation  was  official,  but  the 
numerous  successors  to  Aaron  in  the  altar-service. 
These  were  his  fellows.  They  received  the  oil,  the 
symbol ;  he  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  gift  symbolized.  They 
received  the  oil  by  meaure,  but  "  God  giveth  not  the 
Spirit  by  measure  unto  him."  He  stood,  not  as  the 
representative  of  a  nationality,  at  the  door  of  a  partial 
tabernacle,  to  strengthen  "the  middle ^vall  of  partition" 
between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  world,  but  under  the 


BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  219 

universal  heavens,  that  he  might  abolish  "  the  com- 
mandments contained  in  ordinances,"  gather  Gentiles 
with  Jews  unto  one  Church,  by  the  pacification  of  him- 
self and  maintain  through  perpetual  duration  the  priest- 
hood of  a  revolted  world. 

2.  The  supernatural  voice  accompanying  the  de- 
scending dove  and  certifying  the  Father's  approbation 
closed  the  wonderful  scene.  The  "  oil  of  gladness  "  at 
the  Jordan  was  quickly  succeeded  by  the  fearful  trial  in 
the  wilderness.  Crowds  of  astonished  spectators  stood 
within  the  radius  of  the  mysterious  phenomenon.  In 
dignified  silence  dumb  nature  gave  audience  to  the 
signal  rustle  of  the  wings  of  the  heavenly  dove.  "  Lo  ! 
the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him."  An  aureola  of 
solemn  splendor  encircled  his  radiant  brow,  and  a  voice 
from  heaven  proclaiming,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased." 

Finally,  we  may  notice  an  irregularity  in  the  priesthood 
of  Christ  that  detracts  nothing  from  the  view  main- 
tained, but  associates  him  with  Melchisedech  "after  the 
power  of  an  endless  life."  The  priests  of  the  Jews  were 
taken  from  the  tribe  of  Levi,  their  kings  from  Judah. 
Our  Lord  »was  of  this  latter  tribe,  the  son  of  David. 
He  was  a  king  by  generation,  a  priest  by  consecration. 
After  the  similitude  of  the  illustrious  Melchisedech,  who 
was  both  king  and  priest,  Jesus  Christ  inherits  the  throne 
of  David,  and  serves  at  the  altar  of  Aaron.  Blending 
in  himself  royalty  and  priesthood,  changeless  and  to 
abide  forever,  "  he  is  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne 
of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens."  Designated  in  pro- 


220  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

phetic  vision  "  a  priest  upon  his  throne,"  he  has  by  the 
achievements  of  his  cross  obtained  all  authority  over  the 
house  of  God,  consecrating  through  the  veil  a  new  and 
living  way  into  the  holiest  by  his  own  precious  blood ; 
and  dividing  his  honors  with  his  people,  he  has  made 
them,  in  "  full  assurance  of  faith,  a  royal  priesthood." 
He  the  Royal  High  Priest — they  the  royal  priests.  And 
forasmuch  as  Aaron  was  consecrated  with  the  sprinkling 
of  blood,  the  symbol  of  atonement,  and  the  washing 
of  water,  the  symbol  of  purification,  they  are  advanced 
to  this  exalted  privilege  by  "  having  their  hearts  sprinkled 
from  an  evil  conscience,  and  their  bodies  washed  with 
pure  water." 

Now,  as  the  baptism  of  Christ  was  his  ceremonial  in- 
duction into  his  priestly  office  according  to  law,  and  as 
said  law  distinctly  prescribes  the  washing  of  the  body 
with  water,  it  follows  that  Christ  was  not  immersed. 
And  further,  as  the  great  Royal  High  Priest  was  not 
consecrated  by  immersion,  contrary  to  law,  he  has 
ordained  that  the  royal  priesthood  should  enter  into  the 
holiest,  "  having  their  bodies  washed  with  pure  water." 
As  partakers  of  such  honor  in  the  presence  of  wondering 
angels,  let  us  hold  fast  our  profession  of  faitrf  in  God, 

"  Who  hears  our  Advocate,  and  through  his  wounds 
Beholding  us,  allows  that  royal  name." 


XIV. 
TO    THE    YOUNG. 

BY     REV.     C.     I.     VANDEVENTER, 
Of  the   Missouri    Conference. 


"  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and 
all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you. — MATTHEW  vi.  33. 

The  divine  Redeemer  knew  what  was  in  man.  He 
needed  not  to  be  told  that  the  thoughts  and  anxieties 
which  occupy  and  agitate  the  minds  of  the  masses 
everywhere  and  in  every  age,  find  an  utterance  in  the 
inquiries,  "  What  shall  we  eat  ?  and  what  shall  we 
drink  ?  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?  "  And 
while  he  does  not,  in  this  place  or  in  any  other  connec- 
tion, condemn  or  discourage  suitable  attention  to  the 
duties  of  the  present  life,  yet,  by  so  much  as  things 
spiritual  and  eternal  are  of  more  value  than  those  which 
perish  with  their  using,  would  our  Lord  have  us  to  put 
that  first  which  is  of  the  first  importance. 

We  inquire  what  the  Savior  in  the  text  commands  us 
to  seek  ?  Distinct  perceptions  of  the  objects  of  religious 
pursuit,  as  well  as  to  the  manner  of  their  attainment,  are 
essential  to  the  proper  and  successful  discharge  of  duty. 
We  understand  the  Savior  to  refer  to  that  kingdom 
which  the  prophet  Daniel  declared  the  God  of  heaven 


222  TO  THE  YOUNG. 

should  set  up,  which  Jesus  says,  in  another  place,  is  at 
hand,  and  which  imports  the  reign  of  truth  and  grace 
under  the  Christian  dispensation.  This  kingdom  not 
only  embodies  and  represents  the  visible  Church  of  God, 
but  also  the  spiritual  kingdom,  which  is  righteousness 
and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  which  cometh 
not  with  observation,  but  is  within  us.  Of  this  kingdom 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Supreme  Ruler,  and  all  true  Christians 
are  the  willing  subjects,  while  the  statutes  and  ordinances 
of  inspired  truth,  as  contained  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  furnish  its  infallible  laws.  And  all 
who  are  the  faithful  subjects  of  this  kingdom  will  have, 
in  the  sequel  of  their  career  on  earth,  an  abundant 
entrance  ministered  to  them  into  the  everlasting  kingdom 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

By  the  term  or  phrase  righteousness,  or  his  righteous- 
ness, we  may  understand,  not  that  which  is  the  essential 
perfection  of  the  divine  nature,  but  that  righteousness 
of  which  God  is  the  author  and  man  the  recipient,  and 
which  includes  a  right  relation  to  God's  moral  govern- 
ment, secured  and  evidenced  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins ; 
a  right  state  of  heart,  both  in  relation  to  God  and  to  our 
fellow-beings,  effected  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  regen- 
eration, in  which  the  answer  to  the  prayer  of  the  Psalmist 
is  realized,  "  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  and  renew 
within  me  a  right  spirit."  And  thus  being  made  par- 
takers of  the  divine  nature,  because  we  are  sons,  God 
sends  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  our  hearts,  crying, 
Abba,  Father.  Yea,  the  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with 
our  spirits  that  we  are  born  of  God. 


TO  THE  YOUNG.  223 

This  is  the  righteousness  of  which  many  of  the  Jews 
were  ignorant,  especially  of  the  way  of  its  attainment, 
supposing  it  to  be  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,  whereas  it  is 
by  faith,  for  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteous- 
ness to  every  one  that  believeth.  And  being  justified 
by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  But  this  righteousness  implies,  as  time 
and  opportunity  are  given,  a  holy  life,  for  faith  with- 
out works  is  dead.  Make  the  tree  good  and  the  fruit 
will  be  good  also.  If  we  know  these  things,  happy  are 
we  if  we  do  them.  Then  that  which  the  Savior  directs 
us  in  this  language  to  do,  is  to  seek  to  be  Christians,  in 
heart  and  in  life,  in  fact  and  in  profession — to  be  true 
and  exemplary  subjects  of  his  kingdom  on  earth,  that  we 
may  reign  with  him  in  heaven. 

This  "  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness "  we 
are  commanded  to  seek.  In  our  natural,  unsaved  con- 
dition, we  are  the  subjects  and  servants  of  the  prince  of 
darkness — "  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the 
world."  And  we  will  never  inherit  the  "  pearl  of  great 
price"  unless  we  seek  it;  it  will  not  come  into  our 
possession  by  virtue  of  any  unconditional  purpose  or 
irresistible  influence  of  the  Almighty.  It  will  not  drift 
into  our  embrace  by  chance,  or  by  the  mere  influence  of 
circumstances.  The  divine  direction  is  that  we  seek,  and 
in  the  day  that  we  seek  the  Lord  with  all  the  heart  he 
will  be  found  of  us. 

But  how  may  we  successfully  discharge  this  very 
important  duty  ? 

i.  We  answer,  in  the  language  of  Jesus,  "  Search  the 


224  TO  THE  YOUNG. 

Scriptures."  These  point  out  the  way  that  leads  to 
Christ,  that  conducts  from  sin  to  holiness,  and  from  earth 
to  heaven.  Read  and  meditate  upon  the  Word  of  God. 
Study  it  as  God's  message  to  you ;  apply  its  truths,  its 
duties,  its  promises  and  warnings,  to  your  own  case. 
Read  with  an  intention  to  follow  its  light,  and  without 
conferring  with  flesh  and  blood  to  obey  the  heavenly 
vision. 

2.  Seek  the   Lord  by  prayer.      Unconverted  though 
you  may  be,  yet,  as  a  sincere  inquirer  after  truth  and  the 
way  of  salvation,  it  is  your  duty  as  well  as  privilege  to 
pray ;  for  "  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  "saved."      The  publican   prayed,  and  he  went 

•down  to  his  house  justified,  rather  than  the  hypocritical 
pharisee  who  merely  said  his  prayers.  Cornelius  the 
centurion  prayed,  and  his  prayers  "  went  up  as  a  memo- 
rial before  God."  And  Saul  of  Tarsus,  when  an  awakened 
and  distressed  sinner,  prayed.  And  the  psalmist  prayed, 
and  the  Lord  inclined  unto  him  and  heard  his  cry.  Pray, 
then,  for  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above.  Pray  that  the 
good  Spirit  may  help  your  infirmities.  Ask  and  you  shall 
receive  that  grace  you  so  much  need — the  pardon,  peace, 
and  salvation  which  only  God  can  give. 

3.  Seek  the  Lord  with  an  humble,  penitent  spirit.    God 
resisteth  the  proud,    but    giveth   grace  to   the  humble. 
Through  the  gift  of  our   Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  grace  of 
repentance  has  been  bestowed  upon  all — the   ability  to 
repent. 

There  is  no  pardon,  no  salvation,  without  repentance. 
"  Except  ye  repent,"  said  the  Master,  "  ye  shall  all  like- 


TO  THE  YOUNG.  225 

wise  perish."  And  "  God  now  commands  all  men,  every- 
where, to  repent."  Being  convinced  of  your  sinful 
nature,  and  of  your  own  sins,  both  of  omission  and  com- 
mission, your  many  sins  of  heart  and  of  life,  open  and 
secret  sins,  committed  knowingly  and  wilfully  against  an 
infinitely  good  Being.  Repentance  implies  sorrow  for  our 
sins,  because  they  are  sins,  violations  of  God's  holy  law, 
as  well  as  on  account  of  the  fearful  consequences  to 
which  they  lead,  for  the  "  wages  of  sin  is  death."  True 
repentance  will  lead  you  to  confess  and  bewail  your  sins 
in  the  sight  of  God,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  to  confess 
and  undo  the  wrongs  you  may  have  practiced  toward 
your  fellow-men,  as  well  as  subsequently  to  avoid  in- 
dulging in  either  outward  or  inward  sin. 

4.  In  addition  to  the  duties  above-mentioned,  as  im- 
portant in  the  work  of  seeking  God,  it  is  further  indis- 
pensable to  our  success  that  we  seek  him  by  faith.  He 
that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he 
is  a  rewarder  of  all  who  diligently  seek  him.  Anything, 
everything,  fails  in  the  absence  of  faith.  We  still  remain 
out  of  Christ  and  in  our  sins.  But  when  we  believe,  not 
only  with  the  head,  or  give  an  intelligent  assent  to  the  truth 
of  the  gospel,  not  only,  also,  with  the  consent  of  the  will 
to  the  plan  of  salvation  and  to  its  personal  demands,  but 
in  addition  thereto  with  the  heart,  with  personal  and  full 
trust  and  confidence  in  Jesus  as  our  Savior,  it  is  in  this 
moment  that  we  are  constituted  and  accounted  righteous 
on  account  of  his  merit  by  faith,  and  thus  prepared  with 
the  mouth  to  make  confession  unto  salvation ;  by  word 
and  deed  to  acknowledge  the  Savior  before  men,  to  fol- 


226  TO  THE  YOUNG. 

low  him  into  his  Church,  his  visible  kingdom  ;  to  take 
his  easy  yoke  upon  us,  and  seek  within  the  Church,  and 
by  the  aid  of  its  means  of  grace,  to  make  our  way  to 
heaven. 

But  the  Savior  directs  us  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  his  righteousness.  The  time  when  this  import- 
ant duty  should  be  performed  is  thus  impressively  indicated : 

1.  As  religion  is  intrinsically  of  the  first  importance, 
and  as  man's  first  and  highest  relations  and  obligations 
are  to  his  Maker  and  Redeemer,  so  our  first  and  most 
earnest  efforts  should  be  employed  in  the  work  of  seek- 
ing to  know,  and  love,  and  serve  our  God. 

2.  We  ought  not  to  put  off  attending  to  this  great  in- 
terest till  the  days  of  affliction  or  the  hour  of  death  shall 
overtake  us.     It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  the  consolations 
of  religion  in  a  time  of  sickness  and  when  called  to  die, 
but  these  are  unfavorable  circumstances  under  which  to 
seek  the  Lord.     If  rational  at  such  times,  yet  how  diffi- 
cult and  how  uncertain  the  effort  to  become  religious. 

3.  We  should  give  attention  to  this  important  work  in 
the  days  of  youth — in  the  morning  of  life. 

1.  Because  it  is  right  and  proper  in  view  of  our  rela- 
tions to  God  as   our  maker  and  preserver,  who  is  the 
giver  of  all  our  mercies,  both  temporal  and  spiritual. 

2.  Because  God  commands  us  to  remember  him  in  the 
days  of  our  youth,  when  the  evil  days  come  not,  and  the 
years  draw  nigh  when  thou  shalt  say,  "  I  have  no  pleasure 
in  them."     This  command  is  as  plain  and  as  binding  as 
any  of  the  Divine  requirements,  and  it  cannot  be  inno- 
cently neglected. 


TO  THE  YOUNG.  227 

3.  We  should  seek  the  Lord  first  in  the  morning  of  our 
days,  because  of  the  uncertainty  of  life.     While  the  old 
must  die,  the  young  may  die.     You  may  not  attain  to  the 
usual  meridian  of  human  existence,  much  less  live  to  be 
old.     How  many  of  the  companions  of  your  early  life  are 
now  sleeping  in  the  tomb,  and  how  soon,  whether  pre- 
pared or  unprepared,  you  may  be  numbered  with  them  ! 

4.  You  ought  to  seek  the  Lord  while  you  are  young, 
because  your  habits  of  sin  are  strengthened  every  day. 
Your  moral  powers,  in  their  neglect  or  abuse,  are  con- 
stantly weakening,  and  the  reign  of  sin  over  your  soul 
and  over  your  destiny  is  becoming  more  and  more  dom- 
inant.    The  surface  of  the  stream  upon  which  you  are 
gliding  may  be  smooth,  but  a  terrible  current  is  under- 
neath, and  the  maddening  cataract  is  nearing  every  day. 

5.  The  longer  you  defer  serious  attention  to  this  great 
life-work  the  more  you  will  have  to  do,  and  the  shorter 
will  be  the  time  in  which  you  may  labor.     Think,  dear 
young  friend,  how  the  number  of  your  sins  is  being  mul- 
tiplied!— how  the  breach  between  you  and  your  God  is 
widening,  while  you  still  neglect  the  one  thing,  of  all 
others,  the  most  important. 

6.  We  urge  you  to  obey  the  Savior's  command  in  the 
text,  because  it  opens  to  you  the  only  way  of  being  and 
doing  all  that  God  requires  of  his  creatures,  while  it  sug- 
gests an  object  of  life  worthy  of  him  who  endowed  you 
with  intelligent  and  responsible  existence.     In  this  way 
God  may  be  glorified,  your  own  best  interests  be  pro- 
moted, and  you  may  live  to  bless,  by  your  example  and 
precept,  many  of  your  fellow-beings.     Oh  !  how  much 


228  TO  THE  YOUNG. 

good  you  may  secure  for  yourself  and  for  others,  by  seek- 
ing first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness. 

We  shall  speak  very  briefly  in  regard  to  the  promise — 
"  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  The  divine 
requirements  are  generally  "  commandments  with  prom- 
ise." In  securing  the  higher  good  much  of  that  which  is 
less  important  is  thrown  in. 

The  nature  and  effect  of  true  religion,  in  its  practical 
adaptations,  is  to  reduce  the  ills  and  increase  the  com- 
forts of  the  true  Christian,  even  in  this  world ;  and  the 
divine  blessing,  by  covenant  promise,  is  given  to  his 
people,  not  only  in  spiritual,  but  also  in  temporal  things. 
Godliness  is  profitable  to  all  things,  having  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.  As  a 
father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that 
fear  him.  Then  cast  all  your  care  upon  him,  for  he 
careth  for  you.  Your  bread  and  your  water  shall  be  sure. 
And  as  thy  day  so  shall  thy  strength  be.  If  God  so 
clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which  to-day  is,  and  to- 
morrow is  cast  into  the  oven,  how  much  more  will  he 
clothe  you,  oh  ye  of  little  faith  !  In  the  proper  use  of 
proper  means,  you  have  the  promise  of  food  and  raiment 
— the  things  that  are  needful  here — with  the  blessing  of 
God,  which  is  more  to  be  desired  than  life  ;  and,  at  last, 
of  an  inheritance,  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  shall 
never  fade  away. 

Yes,  dear  friends — you  who  are  just  entering  upon  the 
rough  and  dangerous  sea  of  life,  especially — seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you.  My  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to 


TO  THE  YOUNG.  229 

God  is,  that  you  may  be  saved.  Listen  to  the  words  of  one 
who  has  passed  the  auspicious  period  of  youth — of  one 
who  sought,  in  the  spring-time  of  life,  to  heed  the  Savior's 
call,  and  rejoices  to-day  that  he  did.  Listen  to  one  who 
speaks  to  you  through  these  pages,  from  the  fullness  of  a 
father's  heart,  but  listen  especially  to  the  loving  words 
of  Him  who  tasted  death  for  you.  Dear  Savior,  draw 
the  heart  of  each  one  whose  eyes  may  fall  upon  these 
lines  to  thee,  and  bless  thy  own  word  in  the  salvation  of 
souls  for  whom  thou  hast  died. 

"  Then  seek  the  Lord  betimes,  and  choose 

The  path  of  heavenly  truth ; 
This  earth  affords  no  lovelier  sight 
Than  a  religious  youth." 


XV. 
THE    HIDDEN   LIFE. 

BY  REV.  B.  H.  SPENCER, 
Of  the    Missouri    Conference. 


"  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus 
Christ  were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with 
him  by  baptism  into  death;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the 
dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in 
newness  of  life." — ROM.  vi.  3,  4. 

There  are  few  passages  in  the  Bible  which  have  re- 
ceived so  many  widely  different  interpretations  as  have 
been  given  to  this.  Great  and  good  men  of  all  denomi- 
nations, and  even  of  the  same  denomination,  have  dif- 
fered widely  in  their  views  of  its  meaning.  And  they 
have  differed  honestly.  They  cannot  all  be  correct. 
Somebody  is  mistaken.  Even  great  and  good  men  have 
sometimes  fallen  into  error.  And  even  a  small  man  on 
the  shoulders  of  a  giant  may  extend  the  point  of  his 
observation  beyond  the  vision  of  the  man  who  carries 
him.  We  are  compelled  to  dissent  from  nearly  all  the 
interpretations  we  have  seen  of  this  passage.  When  in- 
telligent and  candid  persons  differ  in  their  understanding 
of  what  some  other  intelligent  man  has  said,  who  is  so 
proper  a  person  to  give  the  needed  explanation  as  the 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE.  231 

author  of  the  language  in  dispute  ?  So  here  let  us  appeal 
the  case  to  Paul.  Who  so  capable  to  explain  ?  Will  he 
do  it  ?  Rather,  has  he  not  done  it  ?  Most  unquestion- 
ably he  has,  fully  and  satisfactorily  !  And  we  now  invite 
attention  to  the  explanation  he  gives.  Let  me  ask  a  few 
questions,  and  then  attend  to  his  answers. 

I.  What,  then,  is  meant  by  the  phrase,  "  Baptized  into 
Jesus  Christ "  ? 

One  thing  must  be  evident.  If  baptized  into  Christ 
we  must  be  in  Christ.  Now  what  does  he  mean  by  that  ? 
Turn  to  2  Cor.  v.  17,  and  we  get  his  answer — "If  any 
man  be  in  Christ  he  is  a  new  creature ;  old  things  are 
passed  away,  behold  all  things  are  become  new."  To  be 
in  Christ,  then,  is  to  be  a  new  creature — is  to  have  old 
things  pass  away — and  to  have  all  things  become  new. 
Do  we  inquire  in  what  sense  all  things  become  new  ? 
Hear  him  :  "  For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works,  which  God  hath  before 
ordained  that  we  should  walk  in  them."  (Eph.  ii.  10.) 
Again,  he  says :  "  That  ye  put  off  concerning  the  former 
conversation  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  according  to 
the  deceitful  lusts,  and  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your 
mind  ;  and  that  ye  put  on  the  new  man,  which  after  God 
is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness."  (Eph.  iv. 
22.)  The  substance  of  the  apostle's  answer  is  this: 
To  be  "  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ "  is  to  be  brought  into 
Christ,  to  be  made  new  creatures  in  Christ,  to  have  old 
things  pass  away,  and  to  be  created  in  righteousness  and 
true  holiness.  It  involves  a  change  in  our  spiritual  na- 
ture, and  implies  the  sanctification  of  the  soul  by  the 


232  THE  HIDDEN  LIFE. 

Spirit  of  God.  If  there  be  any  doubt  of  this,  it  may 
be  dispelled  by  the  following  statement  of  the  apostle : 
"  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus.  For  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized 
into  Christ  have////  on  Christ.  There  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male 
nor  female ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  (Gal.  iii.  27, 
28.)  To  be  baptized  into  Christ  is  to  put  on  Christ;  and 
to  put  on  Christ  is  to  be  invested  with  his  character, 
"  Who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  sanctification  and  redemption."  (i  Cor.  i.  30.) 
To  put  on  Christ  is  to  imbibe  his  spirit,  "  For  if  any  man 
have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  his."  (Rom. 
viii.  9.)  To  put  on  Christ  is  to  imitate  his  manner  of  life, 
"  For  he  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  example  that  we 
should  follow  his  steps,  (i  Pet.  ii.  21.)  The  sum  of  it 
is  this  :  we  repent  toward  God  (Acts  xx.  21),  believe  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (Acts  xvi.  31),  are  baptized  into 
Christ  (Gal.  iii.  27),  and  thus  become  new  creatures  in 
Christ  (2  Cor.  v.  17),  by  being  baptized  by  one  spirit  into 
one  body  (i  Cor.  xii.  13).  From  a  careful  and  candid 
consideration  of  these  passages,  how  can  there  be  any 
doubt  as  to  the  apostle's  meaning  when  he  spoke  of  the 
baptism  of  a  believer  into  Christ  ?  How  could  he  more 
directly  and  satisfactorily  have  explained  himself  ?  And 
now  the  question  is,  Will  we  receive  the  explanation  he 
gives?  We  come  now  to  inquire,  in  the  next  place, 

II.  What  does  he  mean  by  the  phrase,  "  Baptized  into 
his  death  "  ? 

And  here,  let  it  be  carefully  observed,  the  apostle  does 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE.  233 

not  say  that  we  were  baptized  into  water,  but  into  his 
death  !  And  the  apostle  never  said  death  when  he  meant 
water,  nor  water  when  he  meant  death.  And,  further- 
more, let  it  be  observed  that  tnere  is  a  sense,  here  spoken 
of  by  the  apostle,  in  which  every  real  Christian  in  the 
world  has  been  baptized  into  the  death  of  Christ.  It  is 
impossible  to  become  a  Christian,  or  to  be  saved  in  any 
other  way.  We  must  be  baptized  into  the  death  of 
Christ,  or  perish !  Nor  is  this  baptism  a  mere  figure  of 
speech.  //  is  a  glorious  reality  /  To  be  baptized  into 
the  death  of  Christ  is  to  be  made  a  partaker  of  its  benefits, 
for  in  this  way  only  can  a  poor  sinner  come  into  Christ, 
become  a  new  creature  in  Christ,  and  be  created  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness.  But  upon  this  point  let 
us  now  hear  the  apostle.  Turn  to  Col.  i.  21,  "  You  that 
were  sometime  alienated  and  enemies  in  your  mind  by 
wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled  in  the  body  of 
his  flesh  through  death,  to  present  you  holy  and  unblama- 
ble and  unreprovable  in  his  sight."  Now  turn  to  Titus  ii. 
14,  "  Who  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people, 
zealous  of  good  works."  Compare  Heb.  ix.  14,  "  How 
much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the 
eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God,  purge 
your  conscience  from  dead  works,  to  serve  the  living 
God."  Come  with  us  to  Heb.  ii.  9,  "  We  see  Jesus,  who 
was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suffering 
of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honor ;  that  he,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  should  taste  death  for  every  man."  Once 

more,  compare  Rom.  x.  4,  "  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law 
16 


234  THE  HIDDEN  LIFE. 

for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth."  But  why 
multiply  quotations  ?  The  Bible  is  full  of  such.  And 
since  the  world  began  no  man  was  ever  brought  into 
Christ,  or  was  ever  made  a  new  creature  in  Christ,  or  was 
ever  baptized  into  Christ,  except  by  being  baptized  into 
his  death  by  being  made  a  partaker  of  its  benefits  If 
we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  city  of  God  and  survey  the 
shining  multitude  before  the  throne,  we  are  told  that  they 
"  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb."  And  if  we  listen  to  their  hallowed  song 
of  joy,  we  shall  hear  them  sing,  '.'  Unto  him  that  loved 
us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,"  unto 
him  be  glory  forever !  As  money  builds  railroads,  by 
securing  the  necessary  amount  of  material,  intelligence 
and  labor,  so  the  death,  the  blood  of  Christ,  washes, 
sanctifies,  cleanses  us  trom  all  unrighteousness,  by  secur- 
ing the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  whom  we  are 
created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  And  thus  we 
are  baptized  into  his  death  ! 

But  this  brings  us  to  the  inquiry  which,  of  all  others, 
is  regarded  the  most  important  to  a  right,  understanding 
of  the  text : 

III.  What  does  the  Apostle  mean  by  the  phrase  "  We 
are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death  ?  "  And  here 
it  is  worthy  of  special  notice,  that  the  brethren  to  whom 
this  epistle  was  sent  were  then  in  the  buried  state  here 
described.  Whatever  the  word  to  bury  may  signify,  in 
that  sense  they  were  then  buried  /  Paul  says,  we  "  were 
baptized  into  his  death;  therefore,  we  are  buried"  etc. 
What  then  does  the  words  to  bury  signify  ?  If  we  turn 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE.  235 

to  Walker,  Webster,  Worcester,  and   to  all   the   other 
lexicons  of  the  language,  we  shall  find  that  the  words  to 
bury  signifies  to  hide,  or  to  conceal.     And  this  is  precisely 
the  sense  in  which  the  apostle  has  used  it  in  the  text. 
This  will  be  seen  most  clearly  by  a  comparison  of  Rom. 
vi.  3,  4  ;   Col.  ii.  n,  12  ;  and  Col.  iii.  1-4.     Let  us  com- 
pare these  passages  for  a  moment.     "  Therefore  we  are 
buried   with  him  by  baptism  into  death ;   that  like  as 
Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the 
Father,   even   so   we  also   should    walk  in   newness   of 
life."  (Rom.   vi.    3,  4.)     "  Buried  with  him  in  baptism, 
wherein  also  ye   are  risen  with  him  through  the  faith 
of  the   operation   of  God,  who   hath  raised  him  from 
the  dead."  (Col.   ii.   12.)     "If  ye   then   be   risen   with 
Christ,    seek    those    things    which    are    above,    where 
Christ    sitteth  on  the  right    hand    of    God.     Set   your 
affection  on  things  above,  not  on  things  on  the  earth. 
For   ye   are   dead,    and   your   life   is   hid    with    Christ 
in  God.     When    Christ    who    is  our  life   shall   appear, 
then  shall  ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory."    (Col.  iii. 
1-4.)     Here  we  have  an  explanation  of  the  whole  case. 
To  bury  is  to  hide,  or  conceal.     The  thing  buried  is  the 
life.     And  the  place  of  its  concealment   is  with   Christ 
in   God!      Christians  have  a  buried,  or  a  hidden  life. 
In  their  piety,  their  purity,  their  benevolence,  and  their 
good  works,  Christians  "shine  as  lights  in  the  world." 
In  this  respect  they  are   as  visible  as  the  light  of  day. 
Like  the  candle  on  the  stick,  and  the  city  on  the  hill, 
they  cannot  be  hid.     They  so  let  their  light  shine,  that 
others  seeing  their   good   works,  glorify   their  "  Father 


236  THE  HIDDEN  LIFE. 

which  is  in  heaven."  But,  like  the  living  branch  in  a 
living  vine,  the  living  members  in  a  living  body,  and 
the  living  body  connected  with  its  living  head,  so 
Christians  have  a  buried  or  hidden  life.  And  in  this 
respect  "  the  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it  knew 
him  not."  (i  John  iii.  i.)  And  this  also  is  the  reason 
why  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness-  unto  him ; 
neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned."  (i  Cor.  ii.  14.)  They  have  not  this  spiritual 
discernment,  because  they  have  no  Christian  experience — 
have  not  been  "  baptized  by  one  Spirit  into  one  body ; " 
have  not  had  "  the  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  To  the 
men  of  the  world,  in  these  respects,  the  Christian  is  a 
hidden  man.  The '  Christian's  love  and  joy  and  peace 
and  steadfast  hope  of  heaven  are  things  unknown  to  the 
carnal  mind.  What  does  such  a  mind  know  of  the 
"  Love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  is  given  unto  us  ? "  Or  of  "  the  peace  of 
God  which  passeth  all  understanding,  keeping  the  heart 
'  and  mind  through  Jesus  Christ  ?  "  What  does  such  a 
mind  know  of  the  "joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory" 
which  pervades  the  consciousness  of  a  believing  soul  ? 
Or  what  idea  does  such  a  man  have  of  the  apostle's 
meaning,  when  he  speaks  of  "  Christ  in  you  the  hope 
of  glory  ? "  In  these  elements  of  Christian  character 
and  life,  and  which  are  the  very  embodiment  of  Chris- 
tian manhood,  "  The  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it 
knew  him  not."  The  Savior  said  to  his  disciples,  "  I  am 
the  vine,  and  ye  are  the  branches."  (John  xv.  5.)  Now, 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE.  237 

as  the  branch  derives  its  existence,  life,  and  fruitfulness 
from  the  vine,  so  it  is  with  Christians  in  their  relation  to 
Christ.  And  as  the  very  life  of  the  vine  pervades  the 
living  branch,  so  the  life  of  Christ  pervades  the  believing 
soul.  Hence  it  is  that  Paul  says  :  "  I  am  crucified  with 
Christ;  nevertheless  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me  ;  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live 
by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave 
himself  for  me."  (Gal.  ii.  20.)  And  as  the  life  of  the 
branch  is  hid  or  buried  in  the  vine,  so  says  Paul,  "  Ye  are 
dead  (to  sin),  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
And  when  Christ  who  is  our  life  shall  appear,  we  also 
shall  appear  with  him  in  glory."  (Col.  iii.  3,  4.)  The 
burial  spoken  of  in  the  text,  then,  is  not  into  water,  but 
into  Christ.  It  is  not  the  immersion  of  the  body  in  the 
"  liquid  grave,"  of  which  we  hear  so  much,  but  the 
consciousness  of  a  life  "  Hid  with  Christ  in  God ! " 
There  is  no  water  within  a  thousand  miles  of  this  passage. 
And  no  allusion  to  water  baptism  in  any  mode.  Tell 
me  not  of  the  great  names  who  have  understood  the 
passage  to  refer  to  immersion !  We  have  appealed  the 
case  to  Paul.  We  respect  their  opinion,  but  we  prefer 
Paul's  decision.  He  knew  best  what  he  meant,  and  has 
told  us  his  meaning,  and  that  is  sufficient. 

IV.  We  come  finally  to  inquire,  By  what  agency  this 
baptism  and  burial  are  performed  ? 

And  here  let  it  be  specially  noticed,  that  it  is  not  per- 
formed by  the  hands  of  a  man,  or  by  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  or  by  an  administrator  of  the  ordinance  called 
baptism,  but  "  by  baptism." 


238  THE  HIDDEN  LIFE. 

"  Buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death ;  that  like  as 
Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  ot  the 
Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life." 
(Rom.  vi.  4.)  Here  we  see  that  it  is  done  by  an  agency 
called  "  baptism''  And  this  agency,  or  influence,  here 
called  baptism,  is  the  same  powerful  influence  by  which 
Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead,  here  called,  "  the  glory  of 
the  Father"  (Rom.  vi.  4.)  Now,  the  glory  of  the  Father, 
by  which  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead,  in  Rom.  i.  4, 
is  called,  "  the  spirit  of  holiness."  And  how  exactly  his 
name  corresponds  with  the  result  of  his  influence,  as  he 
enables  us  to  "  walk  in  newness  of  life."  But  we  are  not 
left  to  logical  inference.  The  apostle  has  settled  the 
matter  by  a  direct  statement.  Turn,  then,  to  i  Cor.  xii. 
13,  and  read,  "  For  by  one  spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into 
one  body,  whether  we  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  we  be 
bond  or  free,  and  have  been  all  made  to  drink  into  one 
spirit.  But  in  Col.  ii.  n  the  apostle  says  it  was  done 
by  "  the  circumcision  made  without  hands,  in  putting  off 
the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circumcision  of 
Christ."  Now,  in  these  two  verses  the  apostle  uses  the 
phrases,  "  Buried  with  him  in  baptism,"  and  "  the  cir- 
cumcision of  Christ,"  in  precisely  the  same  sense.  What, 
then,  is  this  "  circumcision  of  Christ,  made  without  hands, 
in  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  ?  "  Com- 
pare Deut.  xxx.  6;  Rom.  ii.  28;  and  2  Cor.  v.  i,  and 
you  have  the  answer  complete.  "  The  Lord  thy  God 
will  circumcise  thy  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all 
thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live."  (Deut.  xxx.  6.)  "  For 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE.  239 

he  is  not  a  Jew,  which  is  one  outwardly,  neither  is  that  cir- 
cumcision which  is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but  he  is  a  Jew 
which  is  one  inwardly;  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the 
heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter ;  whose  praise  is 
not  of  men,  but  of  God."  (Rom.  ii.  28.)  These  passages 
speak  for  themselves ;  comment  is  needless.  But  as  he 
was  about  to  use  the  word  baptism,  as  if  to  guard  people 
against  the  error  into  which  so  many  have  fallen,  he  says 
that  this  circumcision,  and  baptism,  were  done  "  without 
hands,  in  putting  off  the  sins  of  the  flesh."  By  "  a  house 
not  made  with  hands,"  the  apostle  means  a  house  built 
by  God  himself  (2  Cor.  v.  i),  so  by  circumcision,  or  bap- 
tism, without  hands,  he  means  a  circumcision,  or  baptism, 
performed  by  God  himself.  So  that  the  case  is  now  made 
out.  This  baptism  makes  us  partakers  of  the  benefits  of 
Christ's  death,  brings  us  into  fellowship  with*  Christ, 
makes  us  new  creatures,  crucifies  the  old  man  with  the 
affections  and  lusts,  creates  us  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness,  hides  the  life  with  Christ  in  God,  and  invests 
us  with  the  hope,  that  when  he  shall  appear  we  also 
shall  appear  with  him  in  glory ;  and  in  i  Cor.  xii.  13,  he 
has  told  us  what  baptism  that  is  which  does  all  these 
things  for  us. 

But  if  you  take  away  every  other  argument  on  which 
an  exclusive  immersionist  relies  for  support,  he  will  flee 
to  Rom.  vi.  4,  and  cry,  "  Buried,  buried !  And  can  you 
bury  a  man  by  throwing  a  little  water  in  his  face  ?  "  And 
this  cant  expression  does  more  for  immersion  than  all  the 
arguments  in  the  world !  Now,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
with  whom  cant  is  more  potent  than  argument,  it  would 


240  THE  HIDDEN  LIFE. 

be  easy  to  exclaim,  "  Buned,  buried  !  And  can  you  bury 
a  man  by  plunging  him  into  the  earth  /  "  Or  rather,  is  it 
not  by  digging  a  grave  in  the  earth,  and  then  by  pouring 
the  earth  on  him  ?  To  ask  is  to  answer  the  question. 
Even  Mr.  A.  Campbell  has  said,  "Among  all  the  argu- 
ments in  the  world  in  favor  of  immersion,  this  apostolic 
allusion  to  a  burial  is  the  strongest."  Well,  he  ought  to 
know.  And  if  this  be  the  strongest,  then  the  cause  which 
it  is  called  to  support  is  a  failure.  For  there  is  not  water 
enough  in  this  whole  burial  argument  to  sprinkle  an 
infant ! 

In  conclusion,  we  would  not  inquire  of  what  Christian 
denomination  you  are  members,  or  how  you  have  been 
baptized  ? — whether  in  water,  or  with  it  ? — whether 
in  much,  or  with  little  /  But,  what  is  of  infinitely  greater 
importance,  I  would  ask,  Have  you  been  baptized  into 
the  death  of  Christ? — are  you  now  buried  with  him? — 
and  are  you  walking  in  newness  of  life  ? — and  are  you 
now  rejoicing  in  the  hope,  that  when  "  Christ  who  is  our 
life  shall  appear,"  that  "  we  also  shall  appear  with  him  in 
glory?" 

How  radical  and  divine  is  the  change  of  moral  charac- 
ter indicated  in  this  text !  How  imperative  the  obligation 
to  a  holy  life  which  it  implies !  How  intimate  and  sacred 
the  relation  between  Christ  and  his  people  !  How  un- 
speakable the  consolation  which  this  relation  secures ! 
How  secure  are  his  people  while  their  lives  are  hid  with 
Christ  in  God !  And  how  bright  the  hope  inspired  by 
the  promise,  that  "  when  he  shall  appear,  we  also  shall 
appear  with  him  in  glory ! " 


SERMON.  241 

"  Now  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the 
dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you 
perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you 
that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus 
Christ ;  to  whom  be  glory  forever  and  ever.  Amen." 


XVI. 
SERMON. 

(PREACHED  BEFORE  THE   ST.   Louis  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE, 
ASSEMBLED  AT  LEXINGTON,  Mo.,  SEPT.  19,  1866.) 


My  brethren :  If  we  would  right  ourselves  at  the 
present  and  guard  the  future,  it  is  necessary  that  we 
have  some  respect  to  the  past.  There  is  much  in  the 
present  that  can  be  best  understood  when  read  by 
the  light  that  is  reflected  from  other  days.  It  is  thus 
that  wise  men  read  themselves.  They  keep  in  mind 
what  they  were,  how  they  thought,  how  they  felt,  and 
how  they  did,  under  these  or  those  particular  circum- 
stances. How  they  were  influenced  by  the  one,  and 
how  by  the  other ;  and  by  comparing  themselves  at  one 
time,  under  one  set  of  circumstances,  with  what  they 
were  at  another  time,  under  another  set  of  circumstances, 
they  arrive  at  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  themselves, 


242  SERMON. 

and  become  better  prepared  to  plan  and  operate  for  the 
future.  It  is  thus,  also,  that  men  learn  each  other. 
They  reflect  upon  what  they  were ;  they  consider  well 
what  they  are,  and  hence  infer  what  they  are  likely  to 
be.  The  same  principle  enters  largely  into  the  operations 
of  all  professional  men,  and  of  all  men  of  business.  In 
all  the  departments  of  life,  among  all  classes  of  men, 
we  find  them  attempting  to  control  the  present  and 
prepare  for  the  future  by  the  aids  of  their  past  experi- 
ence and  observation.  And  why  may  we  not  apply  the 
same  principle  to  ourselves,  as  denominationalists  ?  May 
we  not  form  some  opinion  as  to  our  probable  future  by 
a  survey  of  the  past,  connected  with  an  examination  of 
the  present  ?  I  think  so.  What  were  we  as  a  people, 
and  what  have  we  done  ? — what  are  we,  and  what  are 
we  likely  to  do  ?  are  very  interesting  and  very  gra\  e 
questions.  Suppose  we  consider  them  calmly  and  care- 
fully ? 

It  was  just  sixty  years  ago  this  month — this  week, 
and  most  likely  this  day — sixty  years  ago,  that  a 
Methodist  preacher  was  first  appointed  to  Missouri. 
When  I  reflect  upon  Methodism  as  it  then  was,  and  then 
look  around  me  and  see  what  it  now  is,  changes  of  the 
most  astounding  character  present  themselves — changes 
in  numbers,  changes  in  position,  changes  in  surroundings, 
changes  in  manner,  and  changes  in  character — changes 
in  almost  every  respect,  and  in  almost  everything. 

But  if  I  go  back  some  forty  years  farther  in  the  history 
of  the  denomination,  I  note  yet  other  changes.  Among 
all  the  class-leaders  of  the  land  I  find  no  Carvosso. 


SERMON.  243 

Among  all  the  pious  ladies  a  Ann  Hester  Rogers, 
a  Mrs.  Fletcher,  a  Lady  Huntingdon,  a  Madame 
Guyon,  are  not  found.  Among  all  the  local  preachers 
few  or  none  such  as  were  the  representative  men  of  that 
class  in  other  days  are  now  to  be  found.  There  are 
also  great  differences  in  the  traveling  preachers  of  then 
and  now.  There  are  differences  in  the  men,  and  differ- 
ences in  their  modes  of  procedure.  What  these  differ- 
ences were,  and  what  the  results  of  their  respective 
operations,  may  be  considered  hereafter.  At  the  present 
we  may,  perhaps,  profitably  employ  ourselves  in  a  hasty 
survey  of  the  introduction  of  Methodism  into  what  is 
now  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  in  noting  some  particulars 
connected  with  its  history  from  that  to  the  present  time. 
Before  the  territory  now  embraced  in  the  State  of 
Missouri  came  formally  into  possession  of  the  United 
States  Government,  the  only  preaching  by  Protestants 
the  people  were  peimitted  to  hear  was  done  by  one 
Clark — Rev.  John  Clark — a  Southern  man,  I  think 
a  Georgian  by  birth.  He  lived  in  Illinois,  on  the 
American  Bottom,  below  where  the  city  of  Alton  now 
stands.  As  the  then  existing  government  was  intensely 
and  exclusively  Catholic,  and  no  one  was  allowed 
to  preach  or  teach  or  hold  religious  services  unless 
he  first  took  the  oath  of  loyalty  both  to  the  State 
and  to  the  Church,  Mr.  Clark  had  rather  a  hard 
time  of  it.  His  place  of  preaching  was  in  a  neighbor- 
hood in  St.  Louis  County  then  and  now  called  Cold 
Water;  and  his  plan  of  procedure  was  to  cross  the 
Mississippi  river  in  a  skiff  after  dark,  hold  his  meetings 


244  SERMON. 

at  night,  and  re-cross  to  his  own  side  before  daylight 
next  morning.  This  he  did  to  avoid  the  vigilance 
of  the  officers  of  the  Spanish  government.  But  not- 
withstanding the  difficulties  and  dangers  that-  attended 
him,  he  persisted,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Pro- 
testant and  Methodistic  faith  so  deep  that  the  changes 
of  seventy  years  have  not  been  sufficient  to  remove 
them,  and  the  results  of  his  labors  are  there  to  this  good 
day. 

The  treaty  by  which  Missouri  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States  was  signed  the  2oth  of  December,  1803, 
and  formal  possession  taken  by  the  representatives  of 
the  United  States  Government  in  March  following,  1804. 
If  previous  to  that  period  there  were  any  preaching 
here  by  Methodists,  or  by  any  other  Protestants,  besides 
that  of  Mr.  Clark,  already  referred  to,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  find  any  record  of  it.  There  were  a  few  Pro- 
testant people  in  the  Territory,  and,  possibly,  there  may 
have  been  some  preaching ;  but  if  so,  when,  where,  or  by 
whom,  is  now  unknown. 

On  the  isth  day  of  September,  1806,  a  Methodist 
Conference,  or  a  Conterence  of  Methodist  preachers,  was 
commenced  at  Ebenezer  Meeting  House,  Greene  county, 
Tennessee,  near  to  which  Meeting  House  I  had  the 
honor  of  being  brought  up,  and  at  which,  in  1830, 
twenty-four  years  later  than  the  period  named,  I  looked 
on  the  first  Conference  mine  eyes  ever  beheld;  and  as  I 
looked  on  McKendree  and  Soule  and  other  great  and 
good  men,  I  experienced  a  feeling  in  regard  to  Bishops 
and  great  men  that  a  better  acquaintance  and  a  closer 


SERMON.  245 

friction  rubbed  out  long  since.  But  let  that  pass.  At 
the  Conference  of  1806  Bishop  Asbury  was  present,  and 
so  of  the  members  of  the  then  Western  Conference, 
except  those  laboring  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  and 
such  was  the  condition  of  the  work  there  it  was  thought 
best  they  should  not  leave  it.  At  that  time  the  Western 
Conference  embraced  all  the  country  from  the  Alleghany 
mountains  to  the  remotest  settlements  of  the  Southwest — 
all  the  great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  At  the  Confer- 
ence under  notice  the  minutes  say  eleven  preachers  were 
received  on  trial — Bishop  Asbury,  in  his  journal,  says 
fourteen — among  whom  was  a  young  man  named 
Travis — John  Travis — and  on  reading  out  the  appoint- 
ments at  the  close  of  the  Conference  he  found  himselt 
appointed  to  Missouri  Circuit — not  Missouri  Conference, 
nor  Missouri  District,  but  to  Missouri  Circuit,  Cumber- 
land District,  Western  Conference ;  and  if  you  take  the 
trouble  to  examine,  you  will  find  that  the  Cumberland 
District,  as  then  bounded,  included  all  of  Middle  and 
Western  Tennessee,  all  of  Southern  Kentucky,  a  large 
portion  of  Indiana,  all  of  Illinois,  and  all  the  settled 
portions  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas.  The  cities  of  Nash- 
ville and  St.  Louis  were  in  the  same  Presiding  Elder's 
district,  without  either  railroad  or  steamboat  communica- 
tion between  them.  Rev.  William,  afterward  Bishop, 
McKendree  was  appointed  to  travel  this  district,  and  I 
recollect  to  have  heard  the  venerable  Thomas  Wilkerson, 
who  was  then  a  Presiding  Elder  in  another  district  in 
the  same  Conference,  say  that,  upon  receiving  the  ap- 
pointment, Mr.  McKendree  dryly  remarked,  he  would 


246  SERMON. 

try  to  trarvel  it,  and  if  Mr.  Asbury  would  furnish  him 
with  an  immortal  horse,  he  thought  he  could  succeed. 
However,  he  did  travel  it,  and  the  presumption  is  he 
traveled  it  on  a  horse  of  flesh  and  blood  like  other 
horses.  It  was  necessary  that  the  horses  used  by  those 
men  should  be  good  swimmers  as  well  as  good  travelers, 
as  most  of  the  water-courses  must  needs  be  either 
forded  or  swam. 

Mr.   Asbury   says  of    this   Conference   of   1806,  the 
preachers  were  in  great  want,  and  to  help,  so'  far  as  I 
could,  "  I  parted  with  my  watch,  my  coat,  and  my  shirt;" 
that  is,  he  partially  stripped  himself,  that  he  might  help 
to  clothe  his  more  ragged  brethren.     The  watch  was 
probably  sold,  and  the  coat  and  shirt  given  to  some 
needy  ones,  who,  doubtless,  felt  somewhat  consequential 
as  they  set  off  for  their  new  circuits,  one  wearing  the 
Bishop's  coat  and  another  his  shirt !     Such  a  procedure 
might  be  regarded  as  very  unepiscopal  in  these  days  ;  and 
if  any  now  present  should  regard  those  as  times  of  igno- 
rance, I  beg  you  will  wink  at  them,  and  pass  on.     The 
men  who  went  out  from  that  Conference  were  not  clothed 
fn  purple  and  fine  linen,  nor  did  they  fare  sumptuously 
any  day.     There  were  no  scented  oils  upon  their  heads, 
and   as  for  well-trimmed,  cultivated   beards,  they  wore 
none.     Their  feet  were  not  covered  with  lasting,  or  Con- 
gress gaiters,  nor  French  kid  boots ;  but  they  were  shod 
with  the  preparation  of  the  gospel.     No  pearl  or  golden 
studs  glittered  on  their  bosoms,  but  they  had  the  breast- 
plate  of  righteousness.      No    costly   chains   or   guards 
dangled    from    their   fobs,  but  they  wore  the  girdle  of 


SERMON.  247 

truth.  And  it  must  be  confessed,  that  with  all  their 
poverty  and  mean  appearance,  with  all  their  privations 
and  sufferings,  the  weapons  of  their  warfare  were  mighty 
through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strongholds  of 
wickedness. 

Between  the  place  where  young  Travis  received  his 
appointment  and  the  work  to  which  he  was  assigned 
there  was  a  distance  of  from  five  to  seven  hundred  miles, 
according  to  the  route  by  which  he  may  have  traveled, 
and  a  large  part  of  that  distance  was  almost  entirely  with- 
out settlement.  If  he  crossed  the  Ohio  river,  he  most 
likely  did  so  either  at  Louisville,  at  Shawneetown,  or  at 
Old  Fort  Massac,  as  these  were  then  the  principal,  if  not 
the  only  regular  crossing-places  on  the  lower  river. 
Then,  after  leaving  the  Ohio,  there  were  no  settle- 
ments on  his  route  until  he  reached  those  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bottom  on  the  Mississippi  river.  So  that  along  the 
whole  of  that  part  of  his  route  his  companion  was  his 
horse.  His  quartermaster's  and  his  commissary  depart- 
ments were  both  in  his  saddlebags,  his  bed  was  mother 
earth,  his  covering  the  starry  heavens,  and  his  protector 
was  his  God;  and  how  precious  to  him  must  have  been 
the  promise,  "  Lo !  I  am  with  you  always,  even  to  the 
end  of  the  world." 

If  he  took  a  more  Southern  route,  and  passed  through 
Middle  Tennessee  and  Southern  Kentucky,  and  crossed 
the  Mississippi  river  at  or  near  New  Madrid,  the  case 
was  no  better — worse,  indeed,  as  at  that  time  a  large 
portion  of  that  country  was  thickly  infested  by  hostile 
Indians. 


248  SERMON. 

But  he  reached  the  field  of  his  labors,  and,  so  far  as  I 
can  learn,  reached  it  in  good  time,  and  addressed  him- 
self to  his  work. 

The  settlements  in  Missouri  then  extended  from  what 
is  now  Pike  county  on  the  north,  to  New  Madrid  on  the 
south,  and  to  a  distance  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  miles 
west  from  the  river.  These  settlements  young  Travis 
was  to  visit,  and  among  the  people  do  what  he  could  for 
the  spread  and  upbuilding  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 
It  would  be  exceedingly  interesting  to  us  now  if  we 
could  know  where  Travis  formed  his  classes,  and  of  whom 
they  were  composed ;  to  know  where  William  McKen- 
dree  held  his  quarterly  meetings  on  Missouri  Circuit 
during  the  Conference  year  of  1806—7,  an<^  of  whom  the 
Quarterly  Conference  was  composed.  And  this  we  ought 
to  have  been  able  to  know.  Had  the  preachers  and 
people  done  their  duty,  we  would  to-day,  uncontrollable 
accidents  excepted,  have  a  fair  and  full  record  of  every 
Quarterly  Conference  ever  held  in  Missouri ;  a  fair  and 
full  record  of  the  names  of  every  man  and  every  woman 
ever  connected  with  the  Methodist  Church  in  Missouri, 
with  the  date  of  their  admission  and  of  their  withdrawal, 
removal,  expulsion  or  death,  as  the  case  may  have  been. 
We  also  would  have  a  fair  and  full  record  of  the  name  of 
every  person  ever  baptized  in  the  State  by  Methodist 
preachers,  with  their  age  and  date  of  baptism.  But  we 
have  little,  almost  nothing,  of  the  kind.  The  loss  has 
been  great,  and  now  it  is  remediless.  I  am  grieved  and 
mortified  when  I  think  of  the  past  and  of  the  present  care- 
lessness and  indifference  of  our  preachers  and  people  in 


SERMON.  249 

matters  of  this  kind.  Would  that  even  now  an  efficient 
remedy  were  applied.  Would  that  all  which  remains 
would  now  be  gathered  up,  carefully  preserved,  and  the 
future  marked  by  a  better  state  of  things. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  young  Travis  reported  one 
hundred  white  and  six  colored  members ;  and  instead  of 
^ne  only,  he  formed  two  regular  circuits,  one  of  which 
was  called  Missouri,  the  other  Merrimac.  As  I  stated 
awhile  ago,  this  appointment  was  made  just  sixty  years 
ago  this  month,  and  this  week,  since  when  appointments 
have  been  made  annually ;  and  now  it  devolves  on  the 
Bishop  presiding  to  make  the  sixty-first  annual  appoint- 
ment of  Methodist  traveling  preachers  in  Missouri.  May 
all  the  appointees  be  as  self-sacrificing,  as  zealous,  as 
faithful,  and  as  successful  as  was  young  Travis. 

And,  before  I  pass  entirely  away  from  this  point,  let 
me  ask  you  if  in  your  soberest  judgment  you  do  not 
think  that  such  men  as  Travis  deserve  to  be  remembered 
— deserve  a  monument  —  more  than  do  earth's  con- 
querors, whose  laurels  are 

"  Blood-nursed,  and  watered  by  the  widow's  tears  !  " 

If  so,  then  I  propose  that,  as  soon  as  practicable,  we  erect 
somewhere  in  the  State  a  substantial  and  commodious 
house  of  worship,  and  call  it  by  his  name.  And  further, 
that  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  that  house  as 
many  of  us  as  practicable  assemble  together,  each  bring- 
ing with  him  whatever  he  may  be  able  to  gather  up  in 
the  way  of  official  record,  scraps  of  history,  either  written 

or  oral,  and  let  us  see  if  we  may  not  collect  and  preserve 
17 


250  SERMON. 

something  of  value  in  regard  to  the  early  history  of  our 
denomination  in  this  State. 

It  may  now  be  proper,  and  somewhat  interesting 
withal,  for  us  to  allude,  and  merely  allude,  to  some 
of  the  more  prominent  and  leading  points  in  our  de- 
nominational history  from  the  days  of  Travis  to  those 
in  which  we  ourselves  are  the  chief  actors.  And  we  take 
for  the  first  period  that  from  1806  to  1816.  This  forms  the 
first  decade  in  our  history,  and  its  termination  was  marked 
by  an  important  change  in  our  ecclesiastical  status. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  in  1806  Missouri 
was  included  in  the  Western  Conference,  and  its  bound- 
aries have  been  designated.  But  at  the  General  Confer- 
ence held  in  May,  1812,  this  mammoth-like  Western 
Conference  was  divided,  and  one  part  called  the  Ohio, 
and  the  other  the  Tennessee  Conference.  The  territory 
of  Missouri  fell  into  the  Tennessee  Conference,  and  so 
remained  during  the  four  years  next  succeeding.  Mean- 
while the  sessions  of  the  Western  Conference  from  1806 
to  1812,  were  held  as  follows:  1807,  at  Chillicothe, 
Ohio;  1808,  at  Liberty  Hill,  in  Tennessee;  1809,  at 
Cincinnati,  Ohio ;  1810,  at  New  Chapel,  Shelby  county, 
Kentucky;  1811,  at  Cincinnati;  and  in  1812  the  Ten- 
nessee Conference  held  its  first  session  at  Fountain 
Head,  Tennessee. 

The  boundaries  of  this,  the  Tennessee  Conference,  as 
set  forth  in  the  Discipline  of  that  date,  were  as  follows  : 
"  The  Tennessee  Conference  shall  include  Holston,  Nash- 
ville, Cumberland,  Wabash,  Illinois  and  Mississippi  dis- 
tricts." These  were  the  districts  that  had  previously 


SERMON.  251 

formed  the  Western  Conference.  Some  of  them  had  been 
somewhat  lessened,  and  the  work  had  been  extended 
north  and  northwest  to  form  the  Ohio  Conference.  The 
total  membership  at  that  time  in  Missouri  was  eight  hun- 
dred and  ninety-three,  of  .whom  eight  hundred  and  twenty 
were  whites,  and  seventy-three  colored.  Number  of  cir- 
cuits, five,  viz. :  Missouri,  Cold  Water,  Maramec,  Cape 
Girardeau,  and  New  Madrid.  These,  together  with  one 
circuit  in  Illinois  (that  is,  the  State  of  Illinois,  for  the 
circuit  had  then  no  other  boundaries),  were  included  in 
one  Presiding  Elder's  district,  called  Illinois  District;  but 
why  called  "  Illinois  District,"  when  five  out  of  the  six 
circuits  composing  it  were  in  Missouri,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  ascertain. 

From  this  time  until  1816,  when  another  Conference 
division  took  place,  the  increase  of  membership  in  Mis- 
souri was  but  slight,  the  total  in  1816  being  only  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-eight,  only  sixty-five  more  than  were 
reported  in  1812,  four  years  before. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1816,  the  Missouri  An- 
nual Conference  was  formed,  with  boundaries  set  forth  in 
the  minutes  of  that  date  as  follows :  "  The  Missouri  Con- 
ference shall  be  bounded  by  the  Ohio  Conference  on  the 
north,  by  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  on  the  east,  and  by 
the  Arkansas  river  on  the  south."  As  the  western  bound- 
aries were  not  specified,  the  supposition  is  that  the  Con- 
ference in  that  direction  should  be  bounded  by  the  farthest 
settlement,  wherever  that  might  chance  to  be.  The  Ohio 
Conference  embraced  only  a  part  of  Indiana;  and  the 
remainder,  together  with  all  the  settled  portions  of  Illinois, 


252  SERMON. 

all  of  Missouri,  and  all  of  Arkansas  north  of  the  Arkansas 
river,  were  included  in  the  Missouri  Conference.  When 
first  formed  there  were  two  Presiding  Elder's  districts  in 
the  Conference — one  in  Illinois,  the  other  in  Missouri — 
the  first  having  eight  and  the  second  seven  circuits.  But 
largely  over  two-thirds  of  the  membership  of  the  whole 
Conference  were  in  the  Illinois  district. 

The  first  session  of  the  Missouri  Conference  proper  was 
held  atShiloh  Meeting  House,  in  the  Illinois  circuit,  com- 
mencing on  the  23d  of  September,  1816,  Bishop  Roberts 
presiding.  The  next  session  was  held  at  Bethel  Meeting 
House,  Goshen  Settlement,  in  the  same  circuit.  And  the 
third  session  was  appointed  to  be  held  in  Murphy  Settle- 
ment, in  Missouri,  near  where  the  town  of  Farmington 
is  now ;  but  for  some  reason  it  was  changed,  and  the  Con- 
ference was  held  in  Illinois,  at  the  place  of  its  former 
meeting.  At  this  session,  September,  1818,  a  new  Pre- 
siding Elder's  district  was  organized  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river ;  and  three  or  four  new  circuits  also  were  formed. 
The  Conference  had  now  three  districts — one  in  Illinois, 
one  in  Missouri,  and  one  in  Arkansas — each  embracing 
all  the  prominent  settlements  in  each  of  these  territories 
respectively.  The  Missouri  district  supplied  the  settle- 
ments from  Howard  and  Pike  counties  on  down  to  New 
Madrid,  while  the  Arkansas  or  Black  River  district  ex- 
tended from  Spring  River  on  the  northeast  to  Red  River 
on  the  southwest,  where  a  large  settlement  at  Pecan 
Point  was  regularly  supplied  with  circuit  preaching. 

I  leave  you  to  reflect  upon  the  labors,  the  zeal,  the  per- 
severance of  the  preachers  of  that  day — upon  the  diffi- 


SERMON.  253 

culties  they  had  to  encounter,  the  poverty,  the  privations, 
and  sufferings  they  were  called  to  endure,  while  I  pro- 
ceed to  remark  that  from  1816  to  1824  (that  is,  from  the 
time  of  the  organization  of  the  Missouri  Conference,  by 
its  separation  from  the  Tennessee  Conference,  to  the  time 
of  the  organization  of  the  Illinois  Conference,  and  the 
confinement  of  the  Missouri  Conference  to  the  west  side 
of  the  river),  the  increase  of  the  number  of  districts,  cir- 
cuits, preachers,  and  church  members  was  gradual  and 
constant.  In  1816  there  was  one  district,  seven  circuits, 
ten  preachers,  and  nine  hundred  and  forty-one  members. 
In  1824  there  were  three  districts,  seventeen  circuits, 
twenty-five  preachers,  and  three  thousand  three  hundred 
and  thirty  members. 

Between  1816  and  1824  five  of  the  eight  annual  ses- 
sions of  the  Conference  were  held  in  Missouri — one  in 
Murphy  Settlement,  as  noticed;  two  at  McKendree's 
Chapel,  in  Cape  Girardeau  county ;  and  two  in  the  city 
of  St.  Louis. 

For  several  years  immediately  succeeding  the  separa- 
tion of  the  work  in  Illinois  from  that  in  Missouri  there 
was  less  of  prosperity  than  had  been  experienced  previ- 
ously. This  was  owing  to  a  combination  of  circum- 
stances, two  or  three  of  which  it  may  be  proper  to 
note.  And  first,  many  of  the  most  able  and  experi- 
enced members  of  the  Conference  chose  their  positions 
in  Illinois  or  Indiana,  and  left  Missouri  weakened, 
not  only  in  numbers,  but  in  regard  to  talent  and  ex- 
perience as  well.  A  large  proportion  of  these  men 
were  originally  from  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  or 


254  SERMON. 

States  farther  south,  which  they  had  left,  partly  on  the 
ground  of  their  personal  opposition  to  the  institution 
of  slavery,  and  partly,  perhaps,  under  some  hope  that 
they  might  be  able  in  these  Territories  to  do  better 
for  themselves  and  families  than  they  could  hope  for  in 
older  States ;  and  the  fact  that,  after  a  long  and  bitter 
struggle,  Missouri  was  made  a  slave  State,  decided  them 
in  their  preference  for  Illinois  or  Indiana.  Then  again, 
although  it  was  not  so  very  difficult  to  induce  men  to  be 
transferred  from  other  Conferences  to  this,  it  was  exceed- 
ingly difficult,  in  most  cases,  to  induce  them  to  remain 
here ;  and  perhaps  there  is  no  Conference  in  the  entire 
Connection  whose  records  show  such  a  popping  in  and 
popping  out  as  do  those  of  Missouri.  It  were,  perhaps, 
useless  to  inquire  into  the  reason  of  this,  but  the  fact  is 
undeniable. 

In  the  next  place,  as  is  well  known,  but  little  of  the 
best  parts  of  Missouri — those  best  suited  to  agricultural 
pursuits — were  settled  at  the  earlier  periods  in  the  history  of 
the  Territory,  and  when  it  came  under  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  and  specially  after  the  organization  of  the 
State  of  Missouri  in  1820,  there  was  among  the  immi- 
grants here  a  large  class  of  mere  adventurers — persons 
who  were  neither  prepared  nor  inclined  to  remain  long  at 
any  one  place,  preferring  to  go  from  place  to  place  as 
circumstances  or  caprice  might  chance  to  direct.  To 
these  may  be  added  a  large  class  whose  principal  object 
was  to  seek  wealth  in  the  mines.  And  both  these  classes 
were  migratory  in  their  habits,  and  rarely  remained  long 
enough  at  any  one  place  to  feel  thoroughly  identified  with 


SERMON.  255 

the  people,  or  to  take  much  interest  in  the  religious  or 
general  prosperity  of  the  country.  And  then,  the  fact 
that  in  Missouri  were  the  great  military  posts  and  opera- 
tions of  the  West — that  here  were  carried  on  the  govern- 
ment operations  with  divers  tribes  and  nations  of  Indians 
— through  here  were  the  great  Fur  Company  and  Santa 
Fe  operations,  contributed  largely  to  retard  the  growth  of 
the  Church.  The  people  were,  perhaps,  less  settled  in 
their  feelings,  had  more  to  excite  and  disturb  them,  and 
more  to  call  their  attention  away  from  that  which  was 
needful  than  any  other  State  or  Territory  in  all  the  West. 
Under  these  and  other  impeding  influences  the  Church 
moved  slowly,  so  that  from  1824  to  the  close  of  1835 
(eleven  years)  the  increase  of  members  in  the  entire  Con- 
ference, embiacing,  as  it  did,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  the 
Indian  country  on  the  west,  was  less  than  seven  thousand  ; 
and  this  increase,  small  as  it  was,  was  gained  principally 
in  the  few  years  immediately  preceding  the  last  named 
date.  At  the  General  Conference  of  1836  the  Missouri 
Conference  was  again  divided,  and  the  Arkansas  Confer- 
ence formed.  The  boundaries  of  the  Missouri  Confer- 
ence were  then  given  as  follows :  "  The  Missouri  Con- 
ference shall  include  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  that  part 
of  Missouri  Territory  which  lies  north  of  the  Cherokee 
line."  As  in  former  days,  the  lines  continued  to  run  west 
for  complement.  The  number  ot  members  in  the  bounds 
of  the  Conference,  after  the  setting  off  of  Arkansas,  was  : 
whites,  six  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty-four;  colored, 
eight  hundred  and  sixteen  ;  Indians,  four  hundred  and 
twenty-eight ;  totaf,  seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and 


256  SERMON. 

seventy-eight,  and  fifty-four  traveling  preachers.  This, 
you  will  observe,  was  just  thirty  years  ago.  From  this 
on  to  1846,  when  the  Missouri  Conference  was  again 
divided,  the  prosperity  of  the  Church  was  steady  and 
uniform,  and  the  increase  in  the  number  of  circuits,  of  the 
number  of  preachers,  and  of  members,  was  most  gratify- 
ing, although  it  was,  perhaps,  not  all  it  should  have  been. 
The  Sabbath  School  and  missionary  interests  began  to 
receive  attention,  the  erection  of  houses  of  worship  be- 
came more  common,  and  a  better  class  of  houses  was 
demanded.  This  spirit  increased,  and  spread  among 
both  preachers  and  people,  so  that  from  1846  to  1860 
more  and  better  houses  of  worship  were  erected,  more 
Sabbath  Schools  formed,  more  institutions  of  a  literary 
character  established,  and  more  done  in  every  way  to- 
ward a  permanent  establishing  of  the  Church,  than  ever 
before,  while  our  districts  and  circuits  had  been  multi- 
plying many  times,  the  number  of  our  preachers  increased 
from  fifty-four  to  more  than  two  hundred,  and  our  mem- 
bership from  less  than  eight  to  nearly  fifty  thousand.  In 
1860,  six  short  years  ago,  we  had  schools  in  almost  every 
county  of  the  State,  church  houses  or  preaching  places  in 
almost  every  neighborhood,  our  periodicals  and  perma- 
nent literature  were  widely  diffused,  we  were  at  peace 
among  ourselves,  and  prosperity  attended  us  on  every 
side. 

But  now  I  come  to  the  darkest,  gloomiest,  and  saddest 
period  in  all  our  history.  And  what  shall  I  say  ?  What 
pen  can  describe,  what  pencil  can  paint,  or  what  tongue 
could  tell  the  scenes  through  which  we  have  passed  since 


SERMON.  257 

the  close  of  1860  !  Our  day  and  Sunday  schools  were 
nearly  all  broken  up.  Some  of  our  houses  of  worship 
were  forcibly  wrested  from  us  and  seized  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  Others  were  converted  into  barracks,  and 
oaths  and  blasphemies  were  heard  around  the  sacred  al- 
tars where  Almighty  God  had  been  worshiped,  and  where 
he  had  written  the  "  new  name  "  on  many  a  believing 
heart.  Others  again  were  used  for  hospitals,  and,  worse 
than  all,  some  were  actually  used  for  stables,  while  many 
others  were  wantonly  fired  and  burned  to  ashes.  Our 
regular  services  were  broken  up,  our  people  scattered, 
and  of  our  preachers  some  were  killed  and  others  com- 
pelled to  flee  and  seek  safety  in  other  States  or  Territories, 
while  of  those  who  were  allowed  to  remain  very  few  were 
able  to  perform  their  regular  work ;  so  that  at  the  close 
of  the  year  we  were  in  a  condition  about  as  pitiable  as  it  is 
easy  to  imagine  a  Church  to  be.  I  do  not  much  wonder 
that  our  enemies  regarded  us  as  dead  and  proceeded  to 
administer  on  our  estate.  Almost  any  other  people  under 
the  sun  would  have  been  dead  had  the  same  means  been 
used  to  kill  them  that  were  used  to  kill  us.  Our  escape 
from  ecclesiastical  death  is  truly  a  wonder.  But  one  of 
the  most  painful  aspects  in  the  history  of  the  few  years 
last  past  is  the  fact  that  the  persecuting  of  our  Church, 
the  trials  and  sufferings  of  our  preachers  and  people, 
were,  in  the  main,  instigated  and  carried  on  by  men  pro- 
fessing a  superior  patriotism  and  a  superior  sanctity.  The 
most  violent  and  bitter  of  our  persecutors  were  men  pro- 
fessing to  be  the  followers  and  the  ministers  of  the  meek 
and  lowly  Jesus  !  While  every  precept  and  every  prompt- 


258  SERMON. 

ing  of  the  spirit  of  true  religion  would  have  moved  its 
votaries  to  sympathy,  to  condolence,  and  to  extend  a 
helping  hand,  these  mzr\,  professing  the  religion  of  Christ, 
Ahab-like,  were  moved  by  the  sight  of  pleasant  little 
vineyards  in  the  shape  of  fine  church  houses,  comfortable 
parsonages,  and  the  hope  of  large  congregations  able  and 
willing  to  furnish  large  salaries;  hence  the  fierce  and  bit- 
ter persecutions  they  incited  and  caused  tg  be  waged 
against  us,  and  which,,  whenever  they  can,  they  still  keep 
up.  Such  things  are  painful  to  contemplate,  and,  in  all 
sober  seriousness,  and  with,  I  trust,  no  bad  spirit,  I  feel 
constrained  to  say  that  the  record  of  the  Northern  Meth- 
odist Church  in  Missouri,  during  the  six  years  last  past, 
is  a  record  of  duplicity,  of  injustice,  and  of  outrage. 
But  let  this  all  pass,  at  least  for  the  present,  while 
we  keep  our  attention  fixed  upon  our  own  condition. 
Truly  we  have  been  troubled  on  every  side.  Our  mem- 
bers were  sometimes  put  under  bonds,  or  banished,  or 
sent  to  prison  on  the  most  frivolous  pretexts,  without 
serious  accusation  from  any  responsible  source,  and  in 
some  instances  our  preachers  were  told  by  men  clad  in 
a  little  brief  authority  that  the  fact  of  their  being 
preachers  in  connection  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  was  itself  enough  to  hang  them !  And 
when  the  great  Episcopal  raid  was  begun,  under  a 
famous,  or  infamous,  order  from  headquarters,  some  of 
our  church-houses  were  saved  from  seizure  only  by  the 
fact  that  they  were  hastily  and  temporarily  sold  to 
private  individuals.  We  have  been  perplexed,  but  not 
entirely  in  despair — almost,  but  not  quite.  We  have 


SERMON.  259 

been  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken.  No  !  Thanks  be 
to  God,  not  forsaken.  We  have  been  cast  down — ah, 
down,  deep  down,  but  not  destroyed — not  destroyed  ! 
But  many  had  so  nearly  lost  all  hope  that  when  the 
preachers  were  allowed  again  to  go  to  and  fro,  and  met 
them,  they  literally  shouted  for  joy.  When  the  Church 
paper  was  again  permitted  to  visit  them  there  were 
strong  men  who  wept  like  children  at  the  sight  of  its 
familiar  face.  They  wept .  because  of  the  recollections 
called  up — wept,  oh,  such  grateful  tears,  because  they 
there  and  then  had  evidence  that  the  Church  of  their 
choice,  and  of  their  heart's  deepest  love,  was  not  dead  / 
And  here  I  must  be  permitted  to  enter  the  record,  that, 
in  my  soberest  judgment,  the  history  of  modern  times 
affords  no  instance  of  greater  fidelity  to  true  principles, 
or  of  stronger  and  more  unflinching  attachment  to  the 
Church  of  their  choice,  than  has  been  shown  by  our 
membership  in  Missouri  during  the  six  years  last  past. 
Away  out  upon  the  prairies,  or  among  the  hills  and 
hollows,  or  the  swamps  of  the  sparsely  settled  portions  of 
the  State,  where  for  months  after  months  they  heard  no 
preaching,  saw  no  preacher,  had  little  or  no  communion  or 
companionship  with  their  brethren ;  where  evil  reports  and 
evil  prophecies  concerning  the  Church  were  continually 
poured  into  their  ears ;  where  men  wearing  the  livery  of 
heaven  and  professing  to  be  messengers  of  truth  solemnly 
declared  to  them  that  the  Church  was  disorganized, 
disbanded  and  dead,  and  that  the  scattered  fragments 
were  being  gathered  into  the  motherly  bosom  of  their 
fold ;  under  all  these  difficulties  and  discouragements 


260  SERMON. 

they  remained  steadfast — firm  and  steadfast,  as  though 
each  and  every  one  of  them  had  firmly  resolved  in  his 
heart  of  hearts,  that  if  the  ship  did  go  down,  he  would 
be  the  last  one  to  leave  the  wreck.  But  she  did  not  go 
down !  Honor  and  praise  be  to  Him  who  in  mercy 
gave  to  these  people  the  spirit  of  such  firmness,  such 
steadfastness,  such  patience,  such  perseverance,  such 
faith  and  prayer,  the  vessel  was  not  lost.  For  a  time 
she  appeared  as  if  dismantled,  and  tossed  and  driven 
by  fierce  winds  and  frightful  waves,  but  she  was  not 
lost.  And  my  opinion  is,  that  there  might  be  gathered 
up  from  the  last  five  years'  history  of  our  membership 
instances  of  as  true  moral  heroism  as  those  which 
characterized  the  days  of  the  primitive  Christians. 

But  let  us  glance  at  the  present  situation.  Brethren, 
during  the  fifteen  years  last  past  I  have  been  identified 
with  you  and  your  work.  My  position  has  been  such 
during  that  time  that  I  have  been  at  least  as  well 
informed  as  to  the  actual  condition  of  the  Church  in 
Missouri  as  any  other  man,  and  it  is  with  a  heart 
filled,  burdened  and  overflowing  with  gratitude  to  God 
that  I  tell  you,  that  never  in  the  history  of  my  past 
acquaintance  with  the  Church  were  her  spiritual  pros- 
pects better  or  brighter  than  at  this  good  hour.  Never 
before  were  our  true  and  faithful  ministers  so  near  or 
so  dear  to  the  great  heart  of  the  people ;  never  before 
were  they  so  much  respected,  loved,  or  sought  after ; 
and  never  before  had  they  the  influence  they  can  now 
exercise;  never  were  they  listened  to  more  gladly  or 
appreciated  more  highly ;  and  never  before  have  I  heard 


SERMON.  261 

of  so  many,  such  glorious  and  fruitful  revivals  in  the 
same  length  of  time  as  I  have  heard  of  during  the 
two  or  three  months  past.  So  deep,  so  rich  in  fruits, 
so  all-pervading,  and  so  all-conquering  are  these  revivals ; 
and  from  almost  every  section  the  good  news  thereof 
comes  up.  May  this  reviving  spirit  continue  to  be 
given 

"  Till  o'er  our  ransomed  nature 
The  Lamb  for  sinners  slain, 
Redeemer,   King,  Creator, 
In  bliss  returns  to  reign." 

Brethren,  I  have  shared  in  your  kind  Christian  friend- 
ship, shared  in  your  sympathies,  shared  in  your  prayers, 
and  to  some  extent  have  had  the  honor  to  share  in 
your  sufferings  ;  and  I  beg  you  will  now  grant  rne  the 
privilege  of  sharing  in  your  songs  of  triumph  to  Him  who 
hath  said,  "  I  will  never  leave  nor  forsake  you."  And 
let  me  join  with  you  in  one  earnest,  fervent,  deep,  long, 
and  grateful  Alleluia  to  Him  that  liveth  forever  and  ever 
because  of  the  great  things  He  hath  done  for  us. 

But  I  remember  that  with -Him  to  obey  is  better  than 
sacrifice,  and  it  becomes  us  to  inquire  with  the  psalmist> 
"  What  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  to- 
ward me ! "  And  this  leads  to  a  few  suggestions  in  regard 
to  the  future,  and  in  reference  to  the  course  proper  to 
be  pursued  by  us.  And, 

i.  Whatever  others  may  or  may  not  do,  whatever  they 
may  or  may  not  have  done,  let  us  remember,  and  always 
remember,  "  Vengeance  is  mine ;  I  will  repay,  saith  the 


262  SERMON. 

Lord."  And  remembering  this,  we  should  not  seek  by 
deed,  by  word,  or  by  feeling  in  any  way  to  avenge  our- 
selves. On  the  contrary,  we  are  required  to  bless  and 
curse  not.  We  are  most  positively  commanded  to  "love 
our  enemies,  to  do  good  to  them  that  hate  us,  to  bless 
them  that  curse  us,  to  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use 
and  persecute  us,  and  to  be  merciful  as  our  Father  also 
is  merciful."  We  are  to  forgive,  that  we  may  be  forgiven. 
We  are  to  take  Him  for  our  exemplar,  who  when  he  was 
reviled  reviled  not  again ;  when  suffered  he  threatened 
not,  but  committed  himself  to  Him  that  judgeth  righte- 
ously. And  this  we  must  do,  brethren — we  must  do — 
else  we  cause  the  light  of  his  countenance  to  turn  away 
from  us  and  we  be  left  in  darkness,  and  become  like 
them  by  whom  we  are  persecuted  and  caused  to  suffer. 
If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of 
his ;  and  the  same  mind  must  be  in  us  that  was  also  in 
Christ.  To  preserve  this  will  be  our  greatest  difficulty, 
and  the  losing  of  it  our  greatest  danger.  Few  people 
ever  had  a  better  opportunity  for  cultivating  and  mani- 
festing the  excellent  graces  of  the  true  Christian  character. 
The  patience,  the  forbearance,  the  fortitude,  the  long- 
suffering,  the  forgiveness,  and  the  perseverance  of  the 
true  Christian  may  all  shine  forth  now  more  conspicu- 
ously and  more  brilliantly  than  ever  before  in  all  our 
lives.  We  may  now  live  by  faith  indeed;  labor  on,  toil 
on,  suffer  on,  amid  all  the  darkness  and  discouragement, 
relying  on  God,  who,  as  we  believe,  is  working  out  his 
sovereign  will,  perfecting  and  developing  his  divine 
plans;  and  however  bitter  to  us  the  bud  may  be,  the 


SERMON.  263 

flower  will  be  sweet.  May  all  our  privileges  and  oppor- 
tunities be  sanctified  to  his  glory  and  our  good. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  we  should  now,  more  than  ever 
before,  heed  the  injunction  given  to  Peter,  "  Feed  my 
sheep."  What  a  wide  meaning  there  is  in  this,  and  how 
applicable  to  us  at  the  present !  Feed  my  sheep.  They 
are  scattered  and  torn,  weak  and  wandering ;  the  dogs 
and  wolves  of  hell  are  in  pursuit ;  their  baying  is  heard 
on  every  side.  Through  long  fasting  the  sheep  are  faint; 
feed  them  quickly  lest  they  die.  Hearken  to  their  plaint- 
ive cries  for  help,  and  for  a  pastor's  care,  and  as  freely 
ye  have  received  freely  give — feed  them  bountifully. 

Brethren,  ye  who  have  heard  the  cry  of  our  scattered 
flocks,  will  ye -not  think  of  these  things!  This  is  no 
time  for  us  to  stop  to  inquire  what  we  shall  eat,  or  where- 
withal we  shall  be  clothed.  The  king's  business  requires 
haste,  and  with  Methodist  preachers  now  the  best  ap- 
pointments are  those  where  lie  the  greatest  probability 
of  doing  good  and  saving  souls.  To  do  our  full  work  at 
the  present  will  require  greater  sacrifices  of  personal  ease 
and  worldly  comfort  than  we  have  ever  yet  made.  We 
must  also  encounter  severer  trials,  greater  dangers,  and 
more  hardships  than  ever  before,  so  far  at  least  as  we  have 
been  personally  concerned.  But,  my  dear  brethren,  here 
is  the  command,  plain  and  unequivocal ;  here  are  the  mon 
to  whom  the  command  was  given  ;  yonder  is  the  work 
in  a  wide  field  whitening  to  the  harvest ;  and  the  con- 
sequences of  a  performance  or  non-performance  of  that 
work  have  been  plainly  set  before  you.  What  will 
you  do?  Will  you  suffer  with  your  Master,  and  for 


264  SERMON. 

your  Master's  sake,  or  will  you  flee  as  an  hireling  ?  Will 
you  stand  upon  the  watch-tower  and  continue  to  warn 
the  people,  or  will  you  say,  my  lord  delayeth  his  coming, 
and  begin  to  eat  with  the  glutton  and  drink  with  the 
drunken  ?  In  a  word,  will  you  suffer  affliction  with  the 
people  of  God,  or  will  you  seek  to  enjoy  the  ease  of  the 
world  ?  Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion  !  Woe  to 
them  that  are  full,  for  they  shall  hunger  !  Woe  to  them 
that  laugh  now,  for  they  shall  mourn  and  weep  !  Curse 
ye  Meroz,  that  came  not  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty  !  Solemn  words  are  these ;  may  we 
ponder  them  well. 

Finally,  the  history  of  the  past,  the  condition  of  the 
present,  and  the  prospects  for  the  future,  all  conspire  to 
assure  us  that  if  faithful  to  our  high  and  holy  calling  we 
will  not,  we  cannot,  fail.  The  fires  shall  not  consume, 
nor  shall  the  waters  overflow  us.  God  is  our  refuge,  a 
very  present  help  in  time  of  trouble,  therefore  will  we 
not  fear.  We  may  go  to  prison  and  to  death,  but  the 
word  of  the  Lord  shall  not  return  unto  him  void,  but 
shall  accomplish  that  whereunto  he  hath  sent  it.  All 
flesh  is  as  grass,  the  wind  passeth  over  it  and  it  is  gone, 
but  the  word  of  the  Lord  abideth  forever;  and  his  mercy 
is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  upon  them  that  fear 
him. 


XVII. 

FAITHLESS    HUSBANDS    AND    DIS- 
APPOINTED    WIVES. 

BY     REV.     J.     W.     CUNNINGHAM, 

Of  the  Missouri  Conference, 


"  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against  them." — 
COL.  iii.  19. 

Marriage  is  a  religious  and  civil  contract  by  which  a 
man  and  woman,  subsequently  known  as  husband  and 
wife,  obligate  themselves  before  God  and  the  ci*dl  law 
to  live  together  in  mutual  affection  and  fidelity  till 
separated  by  death.  The  first  marriage  occurred  in 
Eden.  Adam  and  Eve  were  the  plighting  parties. 
God  gave  the  woman  "  unto  the  man,"  and  the  recipient 
of  the  boon  said,  "  This  is  now  bone  of  my  bones,  and 
flesh  of  my  flesh."  .  ,  .  .  "  Therefore  shall  a  man 
leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  unto  his 
wife,  and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh."  (Gen.  ii.  23, 

24-) 

The  sacredness  of  the  marriage  relation,  thus  in- 
stituted by  the  great  Creator  in  the  early  morn  of  the 
world,  was  enforced  by  him  in  the  VII  and  X  Com- 
mands, delivered  in  the  wilderness  through  Moses. 

There  was,  however,  a  privilege  allowed  to  husbands 
18 


266  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

under  the  law  of  Moses  which  is  not  allowed  under  the 
Christian  dispensation.  A  husband  might  put  away  by 
a  bill  of  divorcement  a  wife  who  became  distasteful  to 
him,  though  guilty  of  no  crime  against  the  connubial 
state.  (Deut.  xxiv.  1-4.)  But  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
repealed  that  law,  and  has  made  the  marriage  relation 
so  sacred  and  binding  that  it  can  never  be  dissolved  by 
divine  consent  except  for  a  single  crime. 

Jesus  said  :  "  It  hath  been  said,  Whosoever  shall  put 
away  his  wife,  let  him  give  her  a  writing  of  divorcement. 
But  I  say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
wife,  saving  for  the  cause  of  fornication,  causeth  her  to 
commit  adultery :  and  whosoever  shall  marry  her  that  is 
divorced,  committeth  adultery."  (Matt.  v.  31-32.) 

Jesus  further  said  :  "  A  man  shall  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  twain  shall  be 
one  flesh :  so  then  they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one 
flesh.  What,  therefore,  God  hath  joined  together,  let 
not  man  put  asunder."  (Mark  x.  7-9.)  Marriage  Ls, 
therefore,  eminently  a  religious  contract.  Christian 
States,  to  insure  such  protection  as  the  State  may  afford 
to  those  entering  upon  the  marriage  relation,  have 
enacted  laws  pertaining  to  it.  But  it  is  to  be  deplored 
that  some  of  the  States  of  our  American  Union  have,  by 
their  laws  concerning  marriage  and  divorce,  encouraged 
matrimonial  infelicities  and  applications  for  bills  of 
divorce,  and  caused  many  to  enter  the  married  state, 
not  "  wisely,  discreetly,  and  in  the  fear  of  God,"  but  as 
a  mere  experiment,  to  find  its  remedy,  if  not  approved, 
in  a  divorce  court. 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  267 

Concerning  the  duties  of  husbands  and  wives,  the 
apostles  of  Christianity  have  left  some  wholesome  coun- 
sel. St.  Paul  said :  "  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  even 
as  Christ  also  loved  the  Church,  and  gave  himself  for  it. 
.  .  .  .  So  ought  men  to  love  their  wives,  as  their 
own  bodies.  He  that  loveth  his  wife  loveth  himself.  For 
no  man  ever  yet  hated  his  own  flesh,  but  nourisheth  it 
and  cherisheth  it,  even  as  the  Lord  the  Church.  .  .  . 
For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother, 
and  shall  be  joined  unto  his  wife,  and  they  two  shall 
be  one  flesh."  "  Husbands,  dwell  with  them  (your 
wives),  according  to  knowledge,  giving  honor  unto  the 
wife,  as  unto  the  weaker  vessel."  "  Husbands,  love 
your  wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against  them."  (Eph.  v. 
25;  i  Peter  iii.  7  ;  Col.  iii.  19.) 

The  counsel  to  wives,  husbands  may  seek  for  their 
own  edification  and  comfort. 

Women,  as  a  class,  are  much  better  than  men,  as  a 
class.  There  are  many  more  good  wives  than  good 
husbands,  and  many  more  bad  husbands  than  bad  wives. 
There  are  a  great  many  drinking,  swearing,  gambling, 
virtueless  and  cruel  husbands,  but  not  many  wives  of 
either  character.  There  are  a  thousand  words  of  rebuke 
and  reproof  needed  by  the  former  to  one  by  the  latter 
class.  Therefore, 

The  faithless  husband  and  the  disappointed  wife  will 
be  chiefly  the  theme  of  discourse  in  the  pages  to  follow. 

With  professions  of  sentiments  akin  to  those  announced 
by  the  apostles  in  the  quotation  made,  do  men  usually 
woo  and  win  a  maiden's  young  affections,  and  many, 


268  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

after  the  marriage  rite  is  solemnized,  and  till  death  severs 
the  bond,  endeavor  to  discharge  the  duties  of  true  and 
loving  husbands,  blessing  the  object  of  their  affections. 
But  all  are  not  true  to  their  vows  of  love  and  profes- 
sions of  fidelity  and  devotion  made  in  the  wooing  days, 
nor  to  the  obligations  assumed  at  the  marriage  altar;  and 
of  the  latter  I  will  speak. 

Behold  a  maiden  young  and  fair,  a  joy  to  her  parents, 
a  bright  star  in  her  childhood's  home,  an  object  around 
whom  the  affections  of  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters 
fondly  cling.  A  young  man  seeks  her  hand  in  mar- 
riage. He  woos  her,  not  with  the  words  of  bitterness 
with  which  his  unfeeling  neighbor  daily  afflicts  his 
sorrowing  wife;  not  by  cold  indifference  when  in  her 
presence,  as  if  he  cared  not  for  her;  not  by  furnishing 
her  unmistakable  proofs  that  he  prefers  other  places  and 
companions  to  her  society,  but  woos  her  with  honeyed 
words  of  love  and  vows  of  undying  devotion,  and  thus 
wins  her  heart's  warmest  affections. 

Yielding  to  his  enticing  words  of  love,  she  loves  him 
in  return,  and,  full  of  hope  for  a  life  of  unclouded  happi- 
ness, promises  to  be  his.  Her  love  blinds  her  eyes  to 
defects  in  his  character  which  others  behold,  and  of 
which  she  is  warned ;  or,  seeing  them,  she  hopes  to  cor- 
rect them  when  "they  twain  are  one,"  and,  against  the 
remonstrances  of  her  parents  she  marries  him,  and,  to 
accomplish  her  purpose,  perhaps  flees  her  childhood's 
home,  forsaking  father,  mother,  and  all  for  him.  Or  he, 
deceiving  her  parents  and  friends,  as  well  as  her,  as  to  his 
real  character;  or,  having  never  yet  exhibited  traits 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  269 

afterward  developed,  or  contracted  habits  subsequently 
rendering  him  cdious,  parents  and  friends  regard  with 
favor  his  attentions,  and  cordially  assent  to  the  marriage 
proposed,  and,  with  the  benedictions  of  all,  he  leads  the 
trusting  and  hopeful  one  to  the  bridal  altar,  and  promises 
before  God  and  man  a  life-long  devotion  to  her.  And 
the  nuptials  are  celebrated  with  tokens  of  approval  be- 
coming the  circumstances  of  the  parties. 

That  nuptial  day  she  thinks  the  happiest  of  all  the 
days  of  her  life,  the  dawn  of  a  new  and  happier  life  to  her, 
the  epoch  of  the  brightest  and  most  joyous  era  of  her 
history  in  the  world.  And,  aside  from  religion,  such  it  is 
to  many,  but  not  to  all.  Many  a  disappointed  woman 
has  realized  that  on  her  marriage  day  she  "  passed  under 
the  rod."  Many  a  wife  has,  from  the  first  year  of  her 
married  life,  groped  her  way  amid  the  cheerless  gloom  of 
a  starless  night,  so  far  as  connubial  happiness  is  con- 
cerned. It  is  of  a  disappointed  one  I  speak.  Let  us 
contemplate  the  trusting  and  hopeful  maiden  described  a 
few  years  later,  when  burdened  with  the  cares  of  a  family, 
and  her  eyes  are  opened  to  the  unhappy  realization  that 
she  is  the  disappointed  wife  of  a  faithless  husband. 

On  her  marriage  day  she  left  the  home  of  her  youth 
and  all  the  loving  and  loved  ones  there,  and  put  herself 
under  the  care  of  a  new  protector.  (?)  She  dreamed  then 
of  happiness  she  has  never  known  (or  knew  but  for  a 
honeymoon  period),  and  is  now  painfully  awake  to  the 
delusiveness  of  her  dreams  ot  the  past,  and  the  non- 
realization  of  her  young  heart's  hopes  of  happiness  in 
that  life  on  which  she  has  entered. 


270  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

Cares  have  come  upon  her  of  which  she  previously 
had  no  thought ;  duties  have  now  to  be  performed  of 
which  she  had  only  heard  before,  but  never  knew ;  phys- 
ical sufferings  are  endured  to  which  she  had  been  a  stran- 
ger; mental  disquietudes  and  heart  sorrows  are  realized,  of 
which,  in  all  her  youthful  days,  she  had  never  dreamed. 
Every  look  of  love,  every  word  of  tender  sympathy, 
every  kiss  of  affection,  every  act  of  caress  and  kindness 
that  a  faithful  husband  can  bestow,  are  needful  to  keep 
up  her  sinking  spirits,  to  suppress  the  swelling  sigh,  drive 
back  the  rising  tear,  soothe  the  aching  heart,  chase  away 
the  clouds,  and  keep  the  sunlight  of  a  cheerful  smile 
upon  her  once  joyous  countenance.  She  finds  whims, 
and  fancies  and  caprices,  all  unlocked  for  in  the  man 
whom  she  expected  to  find  almost,  if  not  entirely,  perfect 
as  a  husband — whims  and  fancies  so  eccentric  and  ex- 
acting that  it  is  impossible  to  humor  them.  She  finds 
clouds  of  displeasure  on  that  countenance  which,  in  the 
wooing  days  of  the  past,  always  beamed  upon  her  with 
bright  and  approving  smiles.  She  sees  anger  flashing 
from  eyes  in  which  she  never  expected  to  see  aught  but 
beams  of  love.  She  beholds  carelessness  and  indifference 
where  she  expected  warm  caresses,  hears  words  of  petu- 
lance, bitterness,  and  unkindness  from  lips  that  once 
kissed  hers  with  vows  of  undying  affection,  and  spoke  to 
her  only  with  burning  words  and  in  melting  tones  of  love. 
She  finds  that  he  will  forsake  her  company  as  she  watches 
wearily  beside  the  wee  little  one  in  the  cradle,  or  gives 
attention  to  older  children  as  they  toss  fretfully  or  in  pain 
upon  the  bed  of  sickness,  that  he  may  mingle  with  the 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  271 

votaries  of  the  dance  till  the  small  hours  of  the  night, 
squeezing  the  hands  in  the  dance  and  encircling  in  the 
waltz  the  yielding  forms  of  other  women,  married  and 
single. 

In  the  great  city  she  finds  that  the  club-room,  the 
beer-garden,  the  bar-room,  the  billiard  saloon,  the 
gambling-house,  and,  what  is  to  her  infinitely  worse,  the 
house  of  infamy,  where  fallen  beauties  and  painted  har- 
lots reign,  are  preferred  to  his  own  home  and  hers.  And 
the  society  of  drunkards,  gamblers,  and  harlots  is  preferred 
to  her  society,  and  to  that  of  her  children  and  his. 

Or,  in  her  lone  country  home,  on  bleak  prairie,  or  in 
dense  forest,  with  none  to  protect  in  case  of  danger,  she 
and  her  helpless  ones  are  often  left  through  cheerless 
hours  of  gloomy  nights,  while  he,  all  unmindful  of  her  and 
them,  riots  in  sin  and  revels  in  debauchery  in  village  and 
country  haunts  of  vice  miles  away.  With  tearful  memories 
of  father  and  mother,  her  early  home,  and  the  short-lived 
pleasures  of  her  early  married  life,  she  wearily  waits,  and 
watches,  and  prays  for,  yet  fears,  the  return  of  her  erring 
husband,  heralding  his  approach  as  he  comes  with  oaths 
and  blasphemous  utterances  that  proclaim  the  presence 
of  the  ruling  demon  within  him.  The  very  sight  of  his 
home  intensifies  his  drunken  frenzy.  The  mother  hur- 
riedly hides  away  the  unoffending  children,  suddenly 
aroused  irom  their  slumbers,  to  save  them  from  the  worse 
than  brutal  violence  of  their  father,  while  she  tremblingly 
awaits  the  storm  of  wrath  that  is  to  break  upon  her.  The 
beast  that  has  borne  him  to  his  home  is  cared  for,  but  the 
wife  who  has  wearily  and  anxiously  waited  his  return 


272  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

is  requited  for  her  watchfulness  and  concern  with  oaths, 
words  of  abuse,  and  acts  of  violence.  The  stalwart  arm, 
on  which  she  trustingly  leaned  as  so  hopefully  she  walked 
with  him  to  the  marriage  altar,  is  raised  against  her  in 
anger  and  in  wrath.  The  masculine  hand  that  held  her 
trembling  hand,  so  confidingly  given  to  him  while  he 
solemnly  pledged  himself  before  God  and  men  to  be  to 
her  a  true  and  faithful  husband,  now  smites  her  fair  cheeks 
with  violence,  or  with  rod  or  club  beats  the  feeble  form 
that  crouches  piteously  pleading  at  his  feet,  and  to  pro- 
tect whom  he  should  sacrifice,  if  need  be,  his  own  life. 

Does  she,  when  he  is  less  inebriated,  venture  a  remon- 
strance against  his  faithlessness  and  cruelty,  he  responds 
according  to  the  mood  he  is  in — sometimes  with  peni- 
tence and  sorrow,  and  with  promises  of  amendment,  but 
at  others  with  words  of  unkindness  and  bitterness  that 
pierce  her  heart  more  painfully  than  would  the  dagger  of 
an  assassin.  Would  she  seek  consolation  in  religion  for 
her  sorrowing  soul,  he,  it  may  be,  plays  the  part  of  a 
petty  tyrant,  by  denying  her  a  right  to  a  place  in  the 
church  of  God,  and  refusing  her  the  privileges  of  the 
sanctuary  of  the  Most  High;  or,  allowing  her  such  privi- 
leges, all  unattended  by  himself,  he  preferring  the  syna- 
gogues of  Satan  to  the  house  of  God,  yet  he  detracts 
from  her  enjoyments  by  often  reviling  the  Church  of  her 
choice,  and  ridiculing  her  prayers,  her  piety,  her  faith,  and 
her  hope. 

He  is  a  drunkard,  a  gambler,  a  libertine,  a  tyrant,  a 
monster ! — a  faithless  husband,  with  perfidy  to  his  marriage 
vows,  and  a  long  list  of  crimes  against  his  wife,  blacken- 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  273 

ing  his  soul  and  making  him  a  fit  companion  for  demons 
in  perdition  ;  and  she,  a  deceived  and  disappointed  wife, 
abandons  him  in  despair,  or  worries  through  a  miserable 
existence  with  him,  dying  at  last  with  blasted  hopes  and 
a  broken  heart — dying,  it  may  be,  from  neglect  and  cruel 
treatment — dying,  perhaps  suddenly,  by  violence  at  the 
hands  of  her  cruel  husband. 

This  picture  is  not  overdrawn.  The  records  and. 
proceedings  of  police,  criminal,  and  divorce  courts  would 
furnish  enormous  volumes  of  proof  that  it  is  truthful  in 
all  its  details,  and  that  many  cases  immensely  transcend 
it  in  enormity,  while  thousands  of  families  whose  inner 
life  has  never  been  revealed  in  the  courts,  and  is  unknown 
to  the  public,  would  furnish  similar  pictures,  sad  and 
sorrowful  to  behold,  were  they  presented  with  the  simple 
details  of  fact  and  the  plain  coloring  of  truth. 

But  there  are  bad  husbands,  who  are  neither  drunkards, 
gamblers,  nor  libertines. 

There  are  some  who  are  sober  and  industrious,  but 
they  do  not  properly  appreciate  a  wife's  trials  and 
troubles;  do  not  sympathize  with  her  in  her  numerous 
vexations  and  worryings  as  housekeeper  without  help,  or 
with  help  that  worries  rather  than  relieves  ;  as  the  wife  of 
an  exacting  and  fault-finding  husband,  and  the  mother  of 
fretful  and  ill-tempered  and  unmanageable  children,  who 
in  their  defects  resemble  their  father  more  than  their 
mother;  do  not  give  her  the  words  of  cheer  she  covets 
when  overwhelmed  with  cares  and  sorrows  and  vexations, 
but  are  cross-grained,  ill-tempered,  rude  in  speech,  and 
disagreeable  in  many  respects,  often  by  word  or  act 


274  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

wounding  her  sensitive  feelings  to  the  very  quick.  An 
absent  button,  a  rent  garment,  an  undarned  sock,  a  slight 
failure  in  the  culinary  department,  or  anything  for  which 
a  wife  might  be  remotely  held  responsible  by  a  querulous 
husband,  is  the  occasion  for  rebuke  or  complaint,  while 
words  of  praise  and  cheer  for  her  industry  and  commend- 
able qualities  seldom  fall  upon  her  ear. 

A  son  of  Ethiopia  chastened  his  wife  severely  with  a 
rod.  His  employer  remonstrated  with  him,  and  told  him 
he  "  ought  to  love  and  court  her."  instead  of  beating  her. 
With  a  look  of  astonishment  he  replied :  "  I  did  my 
courting  before  I  was  married."  There  are  too  many 
white  men  in  all  the  ranks  of  society  who  seem  to  con- 
clude, with  the  Ethiop,  that  the  days  of  courting  are 
ended  at  the  marriage  altar,  or  with  the  "  honeymoon," 
and  thenceforth  they  play  the  part  of  a  querulous  master 
or  exacting  superior  toward  their  wives. 

And  many  a  good  wife,  painfully  conscious  of  the  want 
of  congeniality  on  the  part  of  her  husband,  in  the  despe- 
ration of  utter  hopelessness  as  to  future  happiness  with 
him,  induced  by  his  unsympathetic  and  censorius  char- 
acter, abandons  him  for  the  sympathy  of  loving  hearts  in 
her  parental  home,  or,  with  no  such  home  to  return  to, 
seeks  sympathy  with  strangers,  or  lives  out  a  miserable 
life  with  the  unsympathetic  master  she  calls  her  husband. 

Some  husbands  treat  their  wives  as  if  they  were  idle 
mendicants,  and  not  their  own  helpmeets.  It  is  "  I," 
and  "  me,"  and  "  mine,"  and  never  "  we,"  and  "  us,"  and 
"  ours,"  when  speaking  of  the  family  possessions,  and  the 
wife  is  made  to  feel  from  youth  to  old  age  her  utter  de- 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  275 

pendence  as  an  attache  of  his  household.  She  dare  not 
make  an  expenditure  for  herself  or  children,  give  to  her 
church  or  a  charitable  object,  without  consulting  him  and 
obtaining  his  consent,  and  she  is  required  to  render  an 
account  of  all  the  money  grudgingly  furnished  her. 
Many  a  husband  is  too  penurious  in  his  dealings  with 
his  wife  to  give  her  a  nickel  to  cast  into  the  treasury  of 
the  church  she  frequents,  while  he  will  spend  three  times 
the  amount  for  the  cigars  he  smokes  as  he  loiters  about 
the  streets  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  five  or  ten  times  the 
amount  for  those  he  distributes  to  others  who  loiter  with 
him,  while  she  goes  penniless  to  the  sanctuary  of  God. 

Some  husbands  indicate  by  their  actions  that  neither 
wife  nor  children  have  any  attractions  for  them.  Absent 
during  the  day,  except  when  eating  the  meals  a  wife's 
industry  has  prepared  for  them,  they  forsake  their  homes 
as  soon  as  supper  is  ended.  In  the  country  they  ride 
over  to  a  neighbor's  house,  the  cross  roads'  store,  or  the 
neighboring  village.  In  the  village,  town,  or  city,  they 
stray  away  to  stores,  shops,  offices,  bar-rooms,  or  taverns, 
and  spend  their  time  with  men  of  like  character,  while  the 
lonely  wives  of  the  idle,  gossiping  conclaves  are  sighing 
for  the  society  of  their  respective  husbands,  who  only  re- 
turn to  their  homes  when  drowsy  powers  induce  or  closed 
doors  compel.  Like  the  swine  in  the  fields  or  streets, 
they  only  go  home  to  eat  and  sleep. 

At  the  risk  of  rousing  the  ire  of  "  Bishops  and  other 
clergy,"  as  well  as  of  Christian  brethren  in  the  Churches, 
I  will  venture  to  say  that  he  is  not  a  model  husband  who 
subjects  his  wife  to  the  nuisance  of  quids,  cigars,  and 


276  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

pipes,  and  smoke,  and  stained  saliva,  and  an  odorous 
breath  which  finds  its  equal  in  offensiveness  only  in  the 
whisky-scented  breathing  of  the  habitual  drunkard. 
That  which  is  so  nauseating  and  offensive  to  a  multitude 
of  men  who,  in  their  daily  associations  with  men,  are 
brought  in  hourly  contact  with  the  offensive  smell  of  pipes 
and  cigars,  and  the  yet  more  offensive  breathings  of 
tobacco-scented  lungs  and  mouths,  must  be  an  offense  to 
a  wife  who  is  compelled  to  endure  it  in  her  own  home 
and  husband.  A  wife  who  could  endure  such  an  offense 
on  the  part  of  her  husband,  be  he  sinner,  saint,  or  clergy- 
man, herself  not  addicted  to  the  habit,  without  an  open 
and  earnest  protest  against  it,  must  be  a  most  amiable- 
spirited  woman  and  a  long-suffering  wife,  whatever  may 
be  said  of  him  or  his  good  qualities. 

There  are  various  things  which  conspire  to  make  the 
worse  class  of  bad  husbands  heretofore  described,  at 
which  I  have  hinted,  but  to  which  I  will,  by  way  of 
emphasis,  again  refer. 

One  is  the  drinking  saloon. 

Within  richly-colored  and  elaborately-ornamented  win- 
dows of  fashionable  drinking-houses  in  the  great  cities 
and  larger  towns,  where  wealthy  and  pretentious  men  seek 
to  gratify  their  thirst  for  strong  drink  at  a  high  price ; 
within  rudely-shaded  and  less  ornate  establishments, 
where  poor  men  seek  their  gratification  at  a  less  cost ;  in 
the  village  dramshop  and  country  "  grocery,"  where  vil- 
lagers and  countrymen  resort ;  and  in  some  "  drug 
stores,"  where  more  body-killing  and  soul-destroying 
liquors  than  health-restoring  and  life-preserving  medi- 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  277 

ernes  are  sold  and  drank,  drunkards  and  bad  husbands 
are  being  continually  made.  Former  generations  of  in- 
ebriates have  passed  away,  but  their  places  are  filled  by 
another  generation  of  like  character,  and,  as  one  by  one 
they  perish,  others  will  take  their  places.  In  these  drink- 
ing-houses  once  loving  and  beloved  husbands  are  trans- 
formed into  unloving  and  unlovable  monsters.  No  grade 
of  society  in  city,  town  or  country  is  exempt  from  the 
ruinous  process.  To  homes  of  wealth,  where  elegance, 
fashion  and  refinement  reign,  intoxicated  husbands  are 
sent  from  the  gilded  saloons,  where,  by  irequent  visits 
and  the  persistent  habit  of  dram-drinking  with  friends  at 
intervals  of  leisure  during  the  business  hours  of  the  day, 
they  have  become  drunkards.  In  their  homes  of  wealth 
wives  are  enduring  great  sorrows,  on  account  of  the  in- 
temperate habits  and  the  cruelty  of  their  husbands. 
Drunken  husbands,  once  wealthy  but  now  impoverished 
by  their  intemperance,  are  sent  from  saloons  of  lower 
grade,  to  which  they  have  descended,  to  homes  of 
poverty,  where  refined  and  accomplished  wives  sigh  and 
weep  and  sorrow  over  lost  fortunes,  departed  pleasures, 
blasted  hopes,  and  a  ruined  husband — a  curse  instead 
of  a  blessing  to  their  families. 

To  humble  homes,  where  wealth  never  abounded,  but 
where  comfort  prevailed,  and  intelligence  and  sensitive- 
ness reign  in  the  persons  of  amiable  wives,  as  well  as  to 
ruder  homes;  where  uneducated  and  unrefined,  but  vir- 
tuous and  worthy  women  abide  in  their  scantily-furnished 
apartments,  with  little  ones  whose  main  dependence  is 
on  their  mothers  for  the  food  they  eat  and  the  clothing 


278  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

they  wear,  many  once  industrious,  temperate  and  loving 
husbands  are  sent  from  the  lower  grade  of  dramshops, 
where,  in  exchange  for  their  money  and  their  wits,  they 
have  received  the  spirit  of  a  demon,  and  under  its  inspira- 
tion abuse  and  maltreat  the  wives  that  should  be  dearer 
to  them  than  life.  And  thus  from  the  most  lowly  homes 
to  mansions  of  affluence  and  elegance,  fallen  and  faithless 
husbands  and  disappointed  and  unhappy  wives  are 
found,  and  chiefly  through  the  agency  of  our  licensed 
"  breathing  holes  of  hell." 

The  family  grocer  who  sells  whisky  by  the  gallon  to 
dram-drinking  farmers,  and  thus  enables  them  to  become 
intoxicated  in  their  homes,  and  causes  them  to  abuse 
their  wives  every  day  of  the  week,  "  adds  fuel  to  the  fire  " 
the  saloon-keeper  has  kindled  in  the  men  whom  he  thus 
supplies  ;  and  if  the  dram  seller  is  the  occasion  of  sorrow 
and  tears  to  the  wives  of  his  patrons,  the  gallon  seller 
increases  their  tears  and  multiplies  their  sorrows,  as  the 
gallon  exceeds  the  dram  in  quantity,  or  as  habitual 
drunkenness,  induced  by  the  gallon  supply,  is  worse 
than  an  occasional  spree,  occurring  only  on  occasional 
visits  to  town  or  city. 

Another  cause  for  bad  husbands  is  found  in  the  bil- 
liard-saloons and  gambling-houses  that  are  found  in  all 
the  cities  and  towns,  and  which  entice  into  their  pre- 
cincts so  many  men  from  rural  districts,  as  well  as  from 
the  cities  and  towns.  Many  men  become  so  infatuated 
with  billiards,  and  other  games  more  secretly  practiced 
in  more  private  apartments  of  the  same  establishments, 
and  with  the  class  of  men  frequenting  such  places, 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  279 

that  they  become  more  attractive  than  wife  and 
children  and  home.  If  they  chance  to  escape  the  love 
of  strong  drink,  which  is  rare,  they  become  by  their  habits 
and  associations  demoralized  in  all  the  loftier  and  nobler 
qualities  that  should  adorn  the  husband  of  a  worthy  wife, 
and  she  cannot  be  otherwise  than  unhappy  in  the  con- 
templation of  the  wretched  character  who  has  fallen  so 
far  below  the  noble  being  she  fancied  him  to  be  when  he 
wooed  and  won  her  young  affections.  Many  a  wife  is 
dying  of  neglect  whose  hushand  is  wedded  to  "  billiard 
saloons  "  and  "  gambling  hells ;  "  is  sighing,  weeping, 
and  grieving  her  life  away,  while  with  despicable  charac- 
ters he  is  driving  the  ivory  balls  in  the  billiard  room, 
throwing  cards  on  the  gambling  table,  or,  in  gamblers' 
phraseology,  is  "  fighting  the  tiger"  behind  the  curtains — 
playing  at  games  more  exciting,  more  hazardous,  and 
moie  demoralizing  than  those  more  publicly  participated  in. 
Another  abomination  conspiring  to  make  men  forget 
their  marriage  vows,  win  their  affections  from  their  wives, 
and  make  them  heartless  libertines  and  faithless  husbands, 
is  the  house  of  infamy  were  fallen  women  reign.  These 
dens  of  iniquity  are  found  in  all  the  cities  and  larger 
towns.  The  inmates  thereof,  arrayed  like  the  daughters 
of  kings,  glittering  with  golden  ornaments,  go  forth  and 
tread  unblushingly  the  streets  where  chaste  wives  and 
daughters  walk.  At  times  they  affect  the  modesty  of 
true  virtue,  and  again  shamelessly  reveal  their  real  char- 
acters to  susceptible  men  in  public  places.  Through  the 
agency  of  these  fallen  ones  in  city,  town,  and  country, 
many  a  man  is  lost — lost  to  wife,  and  lost  forever. 


280  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS  AND 

Sometimes  a  wife  may  trace  the  faithlessness  of  her 
husband  and  the  wreck  of  her  own  hopes  and  hap  pines 
to  her  own  early  or  later  indiscretions,  or  to  the  agency 
of  some  indiscreet  maiden  or  matron.  The  facts  may  be 
stated  in  the  following  paragraphs  : 

A  young  lady  invites  an  abstemiously-inclined  young 
man,  at  a  fashionable  party  or  at  a  little  friendly  gathering 
in  her  o  xn  or  a  friend's  house,  to  drink  with  her  from 
the  sparkling  wine  cup.  He  has  been  taught  by  a 
temperate  father  and  mother  to  "  look  not  upon  the 
wine  when  it  is  red,  when  it  giveth  its  color  in  the  cup," 
and  he  has  thus  far  done  honor  to  his  parental  teaching, 
but  he  yields  to  the  temptation  of  the  captivating 
maiden ;  he  drinks  the  proffered  draught,  and  thus  she 
initiates  him  into  a  pernicious  habit,  into  which  a  male 
associate  might  never  have  ensnared  him — a  habit  which 
grows  stronger  as  he  grows  older,  and  which  ultimately 
gains  the  complete  mastery  over  him ;  makes  him  the 
patron  of  drinking  saloons,  a  drunken  and  a  faithless 
husband,  and  a  curse  to  her,  or  to  some  other  fair 
woman  less  culpable  but  more  unfortunate  than  herself. 

A  young  man  learns  his  first  game  of  cards  under  the 
tutorage  of  a  fascinating  maiden,  and  repeats  the  amuse- 
ment with  her  in  his  frequent  visits  as  her  suitor,  and 
thus  initiated  he  is  led  on  in  the  mysteries  of  gaming  by 
his  fair  preceptor.  In  time  he  becomes  a  gambler,  and 
with  his  gaming  associates  becomes  a  drunkard,  and 
curses  her  as  a  faithless  husband  for  her  agency  in  in- 
structing him  in  the  diabolic  art,  which  he  might  never 
have  learned  under  a  masculine  preceptor. 


DISAPPOINTED  WIVES.  281 

A  wife,  by  the  frequent  display  of  her  home-made 
wines  and  cordials,  inducts  her  own  husband  into  the 
habit  of  intemperance,  and  sees  him  fall  from  the  position 
he  occupied  as  a  sober  and  useful  man  and  devoted  hus- 
band, when  first  she  put  the  temptation  before  him,  to 
the  deep  degradation  of  an  abandoned  drunkard,  and  a 
faithless  and  cruel  husband. 

A  wife  accustomed  to  "  trip  the  light  fantastic  toe " 
in  the  dance,  and  enjoy  the  embrace  of  masculine 
arms  in  the  waltz  in  her  maiden  days,  forgetful  of 
her  marriage  vow,  to  forsake  all  others  for  her  husband, 
persists  in  attending  dances  and  balls,  and  inducing  her 
domestically-inclined  companion,  against  his  wishes,  to 
accompany  her,  till  at  last  he  becomes  enamored  of  the 
amusement,  and,  what  is  still  worse,  enamored  of  some 
other  maiden  or  married  woman.  The  electric  touch 
of  her  hand  in  the  dance,  her  yielding  form  in  his  close 
embrace  in  the  waltz,  the  languishing  look  of  unlawful 
love  in  her  eyes,  are  too  much  for  him.  The  wife,  too 
busy  in  her  flirtations  with,  other  men,  fails  to  see  the 
inroads  that  are  being  made  on  her  husband's  susceptible 
heart,  till  startled  by  the  announcement  of  his  elopement 
with  another  woman,  or  has  her  soul  kindled  into  a 
flame  of  furious  jealousy,  while  yet  he  remains  at  home 
and  is  professedly  true  to  his  marriage  vows.  The  same 
results  have  transpired  when  the  wife,  forsaking  all 
others  for  her  husband,  eschews  the  dance  and  remains 
in  her  own  home,  but  whom  he  forsakes  for  the  sensual 
attractions  of  the  ball  room. 

Inebriating   draughts   are    almost    universal    accom- 


282  FAITHLESS  HUSBANDS. 

paniments  of  balls  and  dancing  parties,  and  in  connec- 
tion with  such  parties  many  a  husband,  escaping  the 
charms  of  other  women,  acquires  the  habit  of  imbibing 
intoxicating  drinks  and  becomes  a  drunkard.  Thus 
the  dance  is  a  prolific  source  of  libertinism  and  of 
drunkenness,  and  has  wrecked  the  character  of  more 
women  and  blasted  the  hopes  and  destroyed  the  happi- 
ness of  more  wives  than  all  the  sensual  pleasures  it 
affords  its  votaries  will  ever  compensate  for.  When  a 
man  and  woman  marry  they  owe  it  to  each  other  and  to 
themselves  to  forsake  all  other  men  and  women  for  each 
other.  No  married  woman  should  surrender  herself  to 
the  embraces  of  another  man  in  the  dance,  and  no 
married  man  should  take  the  liberties  with  other  women, 
married  or  single,  which  the  rules  and  the  morals  of  the 
dancing-school  and  ball-room  authorize,  and  which  have 
ultimated  in  the  ruin  of  many  thousands. 

The  substance  of  the  foregoing  discourse  was  first 
prepared  for  a  funeral  occasion — the  funeral  of  a  wife 
who  had  been  murdered  by  her  husband.  It  was  a 
portrayal  of  his  character  and  her  sorrows.  It  portrays 
the  characters  and  sorrows  of  many  now  living.  It  is 
given  to  the  public  through  this  medium,  for  the  benefit 
of  all  to  whom  it  may  apply. 


XVIII. 

THE  LIMITS   OF  HUMAN  RESPONSI- 
BILITY. 

BY  REV.  C.  D.  N.  CAMPBELL,  D.  D., 
Of  the  St.  Louis  Conference. 


"Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?" — GEN.  iv.  9. 

Two  difficulties  have  long  stood  in  the  way  of  a  proper 
consideration  of  this  question  and  a  satisfactory  solution 
of  it.  The  first  is  six  thousand  years  old,  and  is  con- 
nected with  the  blood-stained  lips  which  first  uttered  it. 
We  see  the  question  in  the  lurid  light  of  that  first  mur- 
der. It  shocks  and  appals  us.  There  is  a  seeming  pro- 
fanity in  making  it  our  own ;  as  if  we  sympathized  with 
that  dark  soul  who  sought  to  hold  it  as  a  blinding  lie 
between  his  crime  and  the  searching  voice  of  God.  It 
seems,  even  yet,  as  if  gory  with  the  stains  of  that  original 
crime,  to  pollute  the  hand  that  lifts  it.  It  is  a  haunted 
theme,  and  a  retributive  ghost  affrights  us  from  its 
threshold. 

But  there  is  another  and  graver  difficulty :  the  ages 
have  passed  upon  it ;  and  we  have  learned  to  repeat 
their  answer  by  rote.  The  venerable  authorities  of  Eld 
have  said  one  same  eternal  thing,  and  we  dare  not  con- 
tradict them.  "  Yes,"  they  have  replied,  "  every  man  is 


284    THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

his  brother's  keeper — the  janitor  of  his  body  and  his  soul. 
He  may  save  or  destroy  him,  both  for  this  life  and  that 
which  is  to  come."  And  this  answer,  I  repeat,  we  have 
learned  by  heart,  and  roted  to  our  children,  and  preached 
from  our  pulpits,  and  proclaimed  to  all  the  world  as  the 
simple,  final  truth ;  and  yet  this  answer  is  a  lie ;  and, 
what  is  more,  every  truthful  instinct  of  our  nature  has 
risen  up  in  revolt  against  it  all  our  lives  long,  while  yet  we 
have  suffered  our  souls  to  be  crushed  and  chidden  into 
submission  by  the  iron  despotism  of  its  long  supremacy 
in  the  minds  of  men. 

It  may  therefore  be  well,  though  late,  to  inquire,  for 
once,  in  what  we  are  not  our  'brother's  keeper.  And  I 
reply,  we  are  never  the  keeper  of  our  brother's  positive 
virtue;  or,  in  other  words,  it  never  depends  on  us 
whether  the  character  of  our  brother  is  finally  virtuous 
or  vicious.  It  is  never  true  that,  but  for  us,  the  char- 
acter of  a  man  now  permanently  good  would  have  been 
as  consistently  bad ;  nor  that,  but  for  us,  the  bad  man 
would  have  been  a  good  one.  This  depends,  in  every 
instance,  upon  the  pure  contingency  of  his  individual  and 
original  choice.  He  has,  by  divine  and  gracious  endow- 
ment, a  self-moving  power  which  determines  always  the 
direction  of  his  soul  to  virtue  or  to  vice.  The  functions 
of  this  power  lie  in  the  very  springs  of  all  moral  being. 
In  the  soundless  deeps  of  his  nature,  and  far  below  the 
winds  of  motive  and  the  waves  of  circumstance,  lies  this 
conscious  ocean  of  hidden  and  intelligent  power.  The 
storms  of  surrounding  and  impending  life  may  agitate 
its  surface,  but  its  tremendous  tides  yield  only  by  their 


THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY.     285 

own  preference  to  the  attractions  of  good  or  evil  planets. 
It  is  this,  and  nothing  else,  which  essentially  distinguishes 
man  from  "  the  brutes  that  perish."  No  extraneous  in- 
flence  ever  determines  him  to  good  or  evil.  Of  the 
soundness  of  this  proposition  a  very  little  thinking  will 
convince  us.  If  he  might  be  so  determined  by  surround- 
ing influences,  then  his  determination  would  depend,  it  is 
plain,  upon  those  influences  and  not  upon  himself.  If 
the  influences  were  favorable  to  virtue,  he  would  be  help- 
lessly inclined  in  that  direction ;  and  all  the  merit  of  his 
seeming  choice  would  be  justly  attributable  not  to  him 
but  to  the  influences  which  moved  him.  So,  if  the  influ- 
ences were  favorable  to  vice,  he  would  be  as  helplessly 
impelled  in  that  direction ;  and  all  the  demerit  of  his 
seeming  preference  for  evil  wouid  be  as  justly  attributable 
not  to  him  but  to  the  external  forces  which  swayed  him. 
Then  he  would  be  as  responsible  for  his  seeming  choice 
of  good  or  evil,  as  a  piece  of  driftwood  floating  upon  the 
surface  of  a  stream  is  for  its  inclination  towards  either 
bank,  and  not  one  particle  more  so.  Then,  also,  in  effect, 
he  would  be  neither  virtuous  nor  vicious,  but  the  living 
lie  of  Nature  and  Revelation.  Therefore  with  all  con- 
fidence we  may  affirm,  that  no  man  is  the  keeper  of  his 
brother's  positive  virtue :  it  rests  with  no  man  to  say  that 
another  shall  be  finally  either  virtuous  or  vicious. 

And  with  equal  confidence,  and  upon  the  same  grounds 
of  immutable  truth,  may  we  affirm  that  man  is  never  the 
keeper  of  his  brother's  immortal  life.  No  man  can  save 
or  damn  another's  soul.  This  rests,  like  his  positive  vir- 
tue, upon  man's  individual  sovereignty.  Either  he  has 


286     THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

no  soul  to  be  saved,  or,  after  divine  provision  made  for 
its  salvation,  he  alone  must  determine  its  destiny.  If  he 
have  a  soul,  it  is  a  limited  spiritual  independency ;  a  sov- 
ereign trinity  of  intelligence,  conscience  and  will.  Within 
its  sphere,  it  is  the  very  "  image  and  likeness"  of  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God.  Otherwise,  it  is  not  a  moral  soul,  but 
a  calculable  and  almost  material  thing.  For  such  a  thing 
there  can  be  no  right  or  wrong,  no  good  or  evil.  If 
man's  personal  salvation  be  not  in  his  own  sovereign 
keeping  and  control,  then  the  merest  and  most  inconse- 
quent accident  may  defeat  it,  without  his  fault  and  against 
his  will.  It  will  lie  at  the  mercy  of  every  malignant  con- 
tingency. Men  and  devils  may  sport  with  it.  The 
breath  of  a  human,  infernal  or  Divine  caprice  may  waft  it 
to  heaven  or  to  hell.  It  may  be  endlessly  rewarded  for 
another's  virtue,  or  punished  for  another's  fault.  Can 
any  one  contemplate,  without  horror,  the  monstrous  in- 
justice of  making  the  immortal  salvation  of  one  man  de- 
pendent upon  the  purely  contingent  and  precarious  good- 
ness of  another  man  ? 

But  it  will  be  objected  that  this  teaching  narrows  too 
much  the  scope  of  human  influence;  and,  in  particular, 
it  will  be  asked,  if  parents  may  not  reasonably  indulge 
the  hope  that  their  faithfulness  may  be  blest  of  God  so  as 
to  effect  the  salvation  of  children  who  would  otherwise  be 
lost ;  and  if  they  may  not  as  reasonably  entertain  the 
fear  that  their  lack  of  faithfulness  may  result  in  the  per- 
dition of  children  who  would  otherwise  be  saved;  and  if 
both  the  hope  and  the  fear  are  not  warranted  by  those 
words  of  Inspiration,  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he 


THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY.     287 

should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from 
it."  To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  authority  of 
Scripture  is  absolute  and  final  as  far  as  its  real  meaning 
goes ;  but  in  this  case  it  does  not  go  so  far  as  is  supposed. 
It  is  beyond  question  that  a  child  trained  up  "  in  the  way 
he  should  go"  "will  not  depart  from  it;"  for  this  is 
made  certain  by  Divine  testimony.  But  is  it  equally  cer- 
tain that  we  can  always  succeed  in  so  training  him  ? 
God  has  not  said  this,  and  all  history  and  experience  are 
against  it.  Then  there  is  no  warrant  in  the  Scriptures — 
since  this  is  confessedly  their  most  absolute  passage  bear- 
ing on  this  point — for  the  belief  that  parental  conduct 
may  effectuate  the  salvation  of  a  child  who  would  other- 
wise be  lost,  or  the  perdition  of  one  who  would  otherwise 
be  saved.  And  if  this  opinion  has  no  warrant  of  Scrip- 
ture, what  ground  of  reason  can  be  urged  in  its  behalf? 
In  what  essential  quality  does  parental  influence  differ 
from  any  other  outside  force  which  affects  the  characters 
of  men  ?  Who  endowed  it  with  this  incommunicable 
majesty  and  potency  of  Godhead  that  it  should  save  or 
damn  immortal  souls?  Is  the  Almighty  incompetent  or 
unfaithful,  that  He  has  committed  an  error  so  deadly  and 
irreparable  ?  Is  He  such  a  bungler  that  He  did  not 
know  how  to  plan  more  wisely,  or  so  feeble  as  to  be  un- 
able to  effectuate  wiser  and  safer  schemes  ?  There  is  no 
such  thing  rationally  supposable.  The  wisest  and  best 
parent  never  succeeded  in  saving  a  child  that  would 
otherwise  have  been  lost,  nor  the  worst  and  most  foolish 
one  in  losing  a  child  that  would  otherwise  have  been 
saved. 


288    THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

But  the  objector  will  inquire,  if  the  same  thing  is  true 
of  pastoral  faithfulness ;  if  the  purity,  sincerity  and  de- 
votedness  of  the  Christian  pastor  do  not  save  men 
who  would  otherwise  be  lost,  an'd  his  lack  of  these  quali- 
ties cause  the  loss  of  souls  who  would  otherwise  be  saved ; 
if  there  will  be  no  soul-stars  in  the  faithful  minister's 
"  crown  of  life."  which  but  for  his  fidelity  would  have 
been  wandering  meteors  in  a  world  of  woe;  and  no 
blood  ol  murdered  souls,  who  would  otherwise  have  been 
living  in  glory,  on  the  hands  and  garments  of  the  minis- 
terial hypocrite ;  and  especially  if  the  words  of  Christ 
and  many  passages  in  the  Apostolic  Letters  do  not  war- 
rant this  conclusion.  No ;  I  reply,  unequivocally  and 
fearlessly,  no.  I  can  find  no  passage  in  the  Word  of 
God  whose  legitimate  interpretation  goes  so  far.  It  is 
true  that  we  are  therein,  by  many  expressions,  encouraged 
to  hope  and  warranted  to  believe  that  our  pastoral  faith- 
fulness will  be  rewarded  by  the  salvation,  through  our  in- 
strumentality, of  some  souls,  but  not  of  any  soul  that 
would  otherwise  have  been  lost ;  and  we  are  therein  as 
frequently  admonished  to  fear  lest  our  pastoral  unfaith- 
fulness should  be  attended  with  the  perdition  of  some 
souls,  but  not  of  any  soul  that  would  otherwise  have  been 
saved.  And  would  it  not  be  strange,  and  revolting  to 
reason,  and  an  outrage  to  justice,  if  it  were  so  ?  That 
God  should  make  one  man's  ultimate  salvation  clepend- 
ent  upon  the  uncertain  faithfulness  of  another  man  is 
simply  inconceivable.  He  has  not  done  it,  and  He  can 
not  do  it,  because  it  would  be  partial,  cruel  and  unjust. 
But  this  lie,  which  would  stain  the  very  purity  of  God — 


THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY.     289 

we  learned  it  from  the  lips  of  bloody  Rome,  sucked  it 
in  with  the  mother's  milk  she  gave  us  in  the  infancy  of 
our  Protestant  being;  and  it  is  time  that  we  discard  it 
with  the  rest  of  her  "vain  traditions,"  and  walk  by  the 
Word  of  God  and  the  rules  of  common  sense  and  sound 
reason. 

But  the  objector  would  urge  a  final  question  :  Is  there, 
then,  no  power  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  save 
men  who  would  otherwise  be  lost  ?  Are  all  the  visible 
institutions  of  Christianity  non-essential  to  salvation  ? 
Do  all  the  light  and  warmth  of  true  religion  save  no  soul 
from  everlasting  death  ?  Does  not  sending  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen  prevent  the  perdition  and  accomplish  the 
salvation  of  many  souk  otherwise  dead  and  doomed  to 
die  forever  ?  I  reply  again,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
is  blest  to  the  salvation  of  all  who  embrace  and  hold  to 
it ;  but  among  these  is  not  one  who  would  have  been 
lost  if  he  had  never  heard  of  the  Gospel.  The  visible 
institutions  of  Christianity  are  utterly  non-essential  to 
salvation.  True  religion — the  religion  of  Revelation,  as 
we  understand  it — saves  no  soul  from  everlasting  death 
that  would  not  have  escaped  that  death  had  he  never 
heard  of  true  religion.  And  sending  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen  changes  immortally  the  destiny  of  not  one  single 
soul  that  receives  or  rejects  it.  And  all  this  is  true  from 
the  plainest  considerations.  The  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel, the  visible  institutions  of  Christianity,  the  religion  of 
Revelation,  and  missions  to  the  heathen,  are  all  influences 
extraneous  to  the  soul,  and  can  not  be  made  conditions 
of  its  salvation  without  rendering  it  liable  to  perdition  by 


290    THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

the  accident  of  destitution.  To  render  this  still  plainer, 
if  we  say  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  saves  any  who 
would  have  been  lost  if  they  had  never  heard  it,  then  we 
make  the  salvation  of  those  persons  to  depend,  not  upon 
their  own  choice  or  conduct,  but  upon  the  occurrence  of 
an  accidental  or  providential  circumstance  over  which 
they  had  no  control,  and  concerning  wnMch  they  could 
not  possibly  have  entertained  a  preference,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  they  had  no  conception  of  it  even  as  a  possi- 
bility. This  dogma  of  the  dead  creed  of  the  Augustinian 
Catholics  is,  I  repeat,  unworthy  of  our  Protestant  man- 
hood. There  is  good  enough  in  the  Gospel,  in  the  relig- 
ion of  the  Bible,  and  in  Christian  missions,  to  justify  more 
enthusiasm  than  they  have  yet  kindled  in  our  souls,  with- 
out resorting  to  the  exaggerations  and  fables  of  a  false 
and  effete  ecclesiasticism. 

There  is  something  in  this  truth  effectively  trenchant 
and  powerful.  It  strikes  down  with  a  blow  illusions  that 
we  have  deemed  virtuous,  and  even  sacred.  The  vanity 
of  goodness  and  the  vanity  of  evil  fall  dead  before  it. 
The  extremes  of  self-righteousness  and  extravagant  re- 
morse meet  in  a  common  ruin.  We  are  neither  so  good, 
nor  so  bad,  as  we  had  deemed  ourselves.  We  have  neither 
murdered  souls,  nor  redeemed  them.  Unwise  and  wicked 
parents  as  we  are,  God  will  not  let  us  damn  our  children. 
Unfaithful  and  inefficient  pastors  as  we  are,  God  will  not 
suffer  us  to  ruin  the  souls  of  our  people.  Covetous  and 
idolatrous  holders  of  the  treasures  of  Revelation  as  we 
are,  God  will  not  let  the  heathen  perish  by  our  neglect. 


THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY.     291 

If  we  will  not  work  with  Him  for  the  salvation  of  men, 
He  will  save,  by  other  men  or  means,  "  whosoever  will." 

We  have  next  to  inquire  in  what  we  are  our  "brother's 
keeper."  And  I  reply,  we  are  the  keeper,  in  a  clearly 
limited  sense,  of  the  degree  of  his  virtue.  While  we  can 
neither  make  him  positively  virtuous  or  vicious,  nor  con- 
strain him  to  be  more  or  less  so,  yet  we  can  influence  his 
whole  progress  in  either  direction;  and  our  influence 
affects  both  the  beginning  and  the  continuance  of  his 
career.  If  our  own  character  and  conduct  be  virtuous, 
and  he  consent,  we  can  occasion  his  earlier,  more  intelli- 
gent and  decided  choice  of  virtue.  So,  on  the  other 
hand,  if  we  are  vicious,  and  he  is  disposed  to  vice,  we 
can  occasion  his  speedier  and  more  complete  devotion 
to  evil.  Thus  parents  can  win  their  children,  pastors 
their  people,  and  Christian  nations  convert  heathen  na- 
tions, if  they  are  willing  to  be  won  and  converted.  And 
thus  parental  wickedness,  and  pastoral  unfaithfulness,  and 
ecclesiastical  indifference  and  neglect,  can  postpone  the 
conversion  of  children,  people,  and  the  heathen  world, 
if  they  are  willing,  of  their  own  accord,  to  postpone  their 
own  salvation.  More  than  this  it  is  not  given  man  to 
do,  towards  hastening  or  delaying  the  work  of  God  in 
the  souls  of  other  men. 

In  the  matter  of  progress,  also,  man  can  exert  some 
influence  upon  his  brother.  He  can  encourage  or  dis- 
courage him,  in  virtue  or  in  vice ;  he  can  help  or  hinder 
him,  in  either.  By  ministering  to  his  daily  needs,  physi- 
cal, mental,  or  spiritual,  he  can  impart  to  him,  so  to 
speak,  along  with  these  gifts,  something  of  the  virtuous 


292     THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

qualities  of  his  own  nature,  and  thus  aggrandize  him  in 
purity  and  power.  By  the  same  means,  one  viciously 
disposed  may  win  the  confidence  and  affection  of  an- 
other and  send,  disguised  in  seeming  kindnesses,  the  fruit- 
ful germs  of  his  own  vices  to  the  willing  soil  of  his 
brother's  soul.  Indeed,  the  "  ways  and  means "  are 
numerous  and  endless.  Example  is  powerful ;  precept  is 
powerful;  kindness  is  powerful;,  unkindness  is  powerful. 
There  are  ten  thousand  modes  by  which  we  may  help  or 
hinder  our  brother  in  the  ways  of  life  or  death ;  but 
start  one  in  either  path  who  would  not  have  trodden  it 
without  our  impulse — or  hold  one  to  either  course  who 
would  not  have  been  steadfast  without  our  aid — this  we 
cannot  do  j  for  this  is  more  than  God  has  left  even  Him- 
self at  liberty  to  do  for  the  salvation  or  perdition  of  a 
human  soul. 

As  a  consequence  of  what  has  been  already  advanced, 
we  shall  easily  see  that  we  are,  to  some  extent,  the  keeper 
of  our  brother's  rank  in  the  immortal  state.  The  state 
itself  we  cannot  fix.  He  goes  to  heaven  or  hell  on  his 
own  motion,  and  without  our  effectual  help  or  hin- 
drance. But  his  rank  in  that  state — the  height  he  reaches 
or  the  depth  he  explores — may  depend  upon  our  influ- 
ence, or  even  upon  our  force.  To  instance,  we  may 
strangle  him  in  infancy,  or  murder  him  at  any  later  stage 
of  life.  In  either  case,  having  diminished  the  factors  of 
immortal  rank,  we  have  perforce  lessened  their  result. 
And  what  may  thus  be  accomplished  by  the  hand  of 
Violence  is  still  more  plastic  to  the  touch  of  Influence. 
We  cannot  send  our  children  to  heaven  or  hell ;  but  we 


THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY.     293 

can  exalt  or  degrade  their  rank  in  either  place.  As 
pastors,  we  cannot  save  or  lose  our  people.  They  will 
be  saved  or  lost  in  spite  of  us,  and  independently  of  our 
utmost  power  or  weakness ;  but  we  can  seat  them  on 
thrones  of  intelligence  and  glory,  or  exalt  them  to  cor- 
responding eminences  of  woe;  we  can  sink  them  to 
the  rabble  of  heaven,  or  the  canaille  of  hell.  As 
churches,  we  cannot  hold  in  our  niggard  hands  the 
"  Bread  of  Life,"  without  which  the  heathen  world  must 
perish  by  immortal  inanition;  for  God  will  feed  them 
from  the  granaries  of  heaven,  if  we  do  not ;  but  we  can, 
by  our  beneficence  given  or  withheld,  make  them  richer 
or  poorer  forever.  This  is  the  sphere  of  human  influence. 
Here  lie  the  eternal  boundaries  of  man's  power  over  his 
brother.  And  some  have  complained  of  their  extent. 
While  we  contract  them  too  much  for  the  uses  of  super- 
stition and  imposture,  they  are  naturally  too  wide  for  the 
convenience  of  skepticism  and  sin.  It  has  even  been 
objected  to  the  Divine  justice,  that  man's  temporal  wel- 
fare should  lie  so  much  at  the  mercy  of  his  fellow.  The 
inequalities  of  life,  the  contagion  of  example  and  sym- 
pathy, and  the  sweep  and  rush  of  those  surrounding 
influences  whose  force  is  measured  by  universal  induc- 
tion, are  but  other  counts  in  this  profane  and  blasphem- 
ous impeachment.  All  these,  it  is  true,  are  overthrown 
by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  common  sense  and  sound 
reason,  backed  by  the  Divine  Sovereignty.  But  now 
that  we  have  gained  the  cause  and  vindicated  the  purity 
of  Divine  Justice,  by  quashing  the  indictment  of  its  pro- 
secutors in  their  chosen  court  and  on  the  evidence  of  its 


294    THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

own  looseness,  wildness  and  inaccuracy  of  statement, 
shall  we  turn  around  and  become  ourselves  the  effectual 
accusers  of  that  Justice  by  teaching  that  God  has  com- 
mitted to  frail  and  fallible  hands — our  own  or  others' — 
the  destiny  of  immortal  souls  ?  Can  it  be  a  matter  of 
legitimate  surprise  that  thoughtful  men  are  everywhere 
perplexed  or  driven  into  skepticism,  while  intelligent 
Protestant  pulpits  continue  to  utter  the  false  and  blas- 
phemous assumption,  that  they  can  save  or  damn  the 
souls  of  men  ?  Then  the  worst  of  men  may  dismiss  his 
vain  and  exaggerated  remorse  when  assured,  as  he  is  from 
the  lips  of  infallible  Truth,  that  all  his  wickedness  never 
caused  the  loss  of  a  soul ;  and  the  best  and  most  useful 
of  men  may  dismiss  his  humble-seeming  pride  when 
assured,  by  the  same  unerring  authority,  that  all  his 
goodness  never  caused  the  salvation  of  a  single  soul. 
The  bad  man's  account  with  God  is  dark  and  bloody- 
enough,  without  this  false  and  needless  aggravation;  and 
the  good  man's  record  is  full  and  fair  enough,  when 
purged  of  this  glittering  fiction. 

But  again,  it  will  be  objected,  that  this  doctrine  takes 
away  our  thunder;  that  the  ghostly  terrors  of  the  pulpit 
and  the  platform  will  vanish  before  this  tremendous  exor- 
cism ;  that  we  can  no  longer  scare  the  preachers  into  a 
frenzy  of  earnestness  and  fidelity,  nor  convulse  the  people 
with  an  occasional  spasm  of  liberality,  by  telling  them 
that  souls  will  perish  if  they  fail  to  rave  and  give ;  that 
it  diminishes  numerically  the  motives  to  a  virtuous  life, 
and  weakens  those  that  remain ;  and,  finally,  that  it  con- 
travenes the  universal  belief  of  the  Christian  world.  If 


THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY.     295 

it  did  all  this,  that  would  be  nothing  to  us ;  because  it  is 
the  truth,  and  we  must  receive  all  truth  as  from  the  lips 
of  God ;  it  is  God's  universal  voice  ;  it  is  sacred,  and  we 
cannot  palter  with  it ;  we  must  simply  receive  it  and 
believe  it.  But  the  objections,  when  carefully  examined, 
may  have  more  apparent  than  real  force.  Let  us  see  if 
this  will  not  be  found  true  in  detail. 

It  is  objected,  first,  that  this  doctrine  steals  the  thun- 
der from  the  pulpit  and  the  platform.  But  will  not  these 
engines  of  the  Church  have  thunder  enough  left,  even 
after  so  large  a  depletion  of  their  sonorous  powers  ?  Is 
it  so  absolutely  certain  that  the  noise  and  terror  of  reli- 
gion effect  its  highest  and  best  ends  ?  Have  not  the 
light  of  truth  and  the  warmth  of  love  something  to  do 
with  saving  and  moving  men  ?  Then  it  is  just  possible, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  that  the  pulpit  and  platform  of  Chris- 
tianity may  get  along  at  least  equally  well  with  a  little 
less  thunder  and  terror,  and  a  little  more  light  and  heat. 

It  is  objected,  secondly,  that  this  doctrine  lessens  the 
number  and  impairs  the  strength  of  existing  motives  to  a 
virtuous  life.  I  freely  concede  that  if  this  objection  were 
valid,  the  doctrine  would  be  proven  false;  since  they  con- 
tradict each  other  flatly,  and  therefore  cannot  both  be 
sound.  But  to  tell  me  that  my  brother's  absolute  salva- 
tion is  in  my  keeping — that  it  depends  upon  me  whether 
he  shall  dwell  forever  in  heaven  or  hell,  is  to  overwhelm  me 
with  a  responsibility  too  vast  for  even  the  Almighty  himself 
to  assume.  It  is  to  paralyze,  by  the  force  of  utter  despair 
every  rational  effort  of  which  I  should  otherwise  be  capa- 
ble to  save  and  bless  my  brother.  There  is  such  a  thing 


296    THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

as  putting  too  much  upon  a  man  for  his  strength  to  bear, 
and  thus  destroying  his  efficiency  by  over-tasking  his 
powers.  And  this  is  precisely  that  thing.  Many  a  parent 
has  been  discouraged  from  attempting  anything  for  the 
spiritual  welfare  ot  his  children,  by  being  told  that  their 
salvation  depended  upon  him.  Many  a  pastor  has  felt 
this  terrible  paralysis  shearing  through  all  the  strength  of 
his  efficiency  for  good.  Many  a  Christian  man  has  but- 
toned up  his  pocket  and  his  purse  because  he  was  told, 
from  the  missionary  platform,  that  the  salvation  of  the 
heathen  depended  on  his  charity ;  and  he  had  sense 
enough  to  see  that,  if  this  were  true,  he  would  be  as 
guilty  if  he  failed  to  give  all  he  had  in  the  world  as  if  he 
gave  them  nothing.  The  fact  is,  that  this  thing  is  so  in- 
effably and  outrageously  false,  that  nobody  in  the  world 
believes  it  heartily ;  and  try  how  we  will,  we  cannot 
make  ourselves  or  others  the  consistent  dupes  of  such  a 
monstrous  imposture.  So  far,  then,  is  it  from  being  true, 
as  objected,  that  the  doctrine  of  this  discourse  weakens 
and  impairs  our  motives  to  virtue,  it  is  rather  true  that, 
in  proportion  as  we  receive  and  inwardly  digest  it,  will 
our  souls  be  emancipated  from  the  long-worn  fetters  of 
despondency  and  inefficiency  ;  we  shall  rise  to  a  higher 
life ;  we  shall  breathe  a  purer  atmosphere ;  the  light  of  a 
kindlier  truth  will  shine  upon  our  heads,  and  the  warmth 
of  a  better  hope  gladden  our  hearts. 

But  it  is  objected,  finally,  that  this  doctrine  is  in  con- 
travention of  the  belief  of  the  Christian  world.  If  by 
the  Christian  world  the  objector  means  all  the  nominal 
Christians  in  the  world,  except,  of  course,  this  preacher, 


THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY.     297 

then  I  answer,  simply  and  bluntly,  such  is  not  the  fact. 
If  he  means  a  large  majority  of  the  nominal  Christians  of 
the  world,  this  may  be  conceded  without  harm ;  for  that 
large  majority  is  composed  of  Catholics ;  and  the  error 
which  I  am  controverting  is  a  favorite  and  fundamental 
dogma  of  their  creed.  But  if  he  means  the  Protestant 
part  of  the  Christian  world,  then  I  reply  that,  in  my  hum- 
ble opinion,  he  is  very  much  mistaken;  and  if  he  were 
not,  his  objection  is  quite  aside  from  the  merits  of  the 
question.  The  doctrine  is  either  true  or  false  in  itself, 
and  its  general  or  partial  acceptance  in  the  Christian 
world  touches  not  at  all  the  question  of  its  truth. 

I  conclude  with  an  exact  and  specific  statement  of 
what,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  simple  truth  in  the  whole 
case  of  the  mutual  responsibility  of  men.  We  are  the 
conduits  to  others,  if  we  please,  of  a  divine  influence  suffi- 
cient, if  they  please,  to  accomplish  their  salvation ;  and 
we  are  responsible  for  the  whole  measure  of  our  capacity 
thus  to  do  men  good.  If  we  fail,  either  wilfully  or  by 
evitable  ignorance  and  carelessness,  to  acquire  and  trans- 
mit to  others  this  gracious  influence,  which  might,  if  they 
chose  to  have  it  so,  be  the  means  of  saving  them,  we  are 
debited  to  the  death  of  those  souls — that  is,  we  are  charged 
with  the  crime  which  we  would  have  committed  if  we 
had  not  been  lorcibly  prevented.  So,  if  we  keep  on  hand 
and  transmit  to  others,  as  well  as  we  can,  the  Divine  in- 
fluence which  might  save  them  if  they  would,  we  are 
credited  by  the  salvation  of  such  souls — that  is,  we  are 
rewarded  for  the  virtuous  purpose  and  effort,  as  for  the 

accomplished  deed.     This  is  the  perfect  rule  of  the  Di- 
20 


298     THE  LIMITS  OF  HUMAN  RESPONSIBILITY. 

vine  administration,  as  taught  by  the  Master  of  life ;  and 
even  men,  in  their  fallible  systems  of  justice,  try  to  imi- 
tate it  as  well  as  they  can.  And  is  not  this  enough,  and 
the  best  ?  If  any  man  intend  evil,  he  will  be  punished 
for  the  evil  intended,  though  he  could  not  accomplish  it; 
if  any  man  intend  good,  he  will  be  rewarded  for  the 
good  intention,  though  he  failed  to  compass  it.  Who 
would  have  a  heavier  responsibility  than  this  ?  ••  Who 
could  wish  for  a  sweeter  and  more  perfect  consolation  ? 
Success  is  nothing,  failure  is  nothing ;  these  have  might 
only  in  human  and  fallible  standards  of  merit.  God 
reads  the  heart;  and  "as  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so 
is  he ;"  and  so  is  he  written  down  on  those  imperishable 
records  which  will  confront  him  at  the  judgment- seat  of 
Christ. 


XIX. 
SERMON. 

DELIVERED   ON   KAf.TER   SUNDAY,  APRIL   5,   1874,  IN   THE  SECOND 
METHODIST   CHURCH,    SOUTH    ST.    LOUIS.* 

BY     REV.     D.     R.     M'ANALLY, 

Of  the   St.  Louis    Conference. 


"  But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead  and  become  the  first 
fruits  of  them  that  slept." — I  COR.  xv.  20. 

If  Christ  be  not  risen  from  the  dead,  then,  saith  the 
Apostle,  our  preaching  is  vain,  the  Christian's  faith  is 
also  vain,  and  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  taught,  Christ  himself  taught,  and  his 
Apostles  taught,  that  the  resurrection  of  the  Savior  was 
as  necessary  a  part  of  the  redemptory  scheme  as  was  his 
life  or  his  teaching  or  his  death.  "  It  behooved  him  to 
suffer  and  to  rise  from  the  dead,  that  repentance  and  re- 
mission of  sins  might  be  preached  in  his  name."  That 

*Two  or  three  sermons  expected  for  this  volume  were  not  fur- 
nished. The  book  had  been  promised  at  an  early  date,  and  at  the 
urgent  request  of  the  compiler  this  sermon,  hastily  prepared  and 
written,  without  any  idea  of  its  publication,  was  furnished.  This 
much  is  due  to  the  author.  PUBLISHER. 


300  THE  RESURRECTION. 

is — neither  repentance  nor  remission  of  sins  could  have 
been  offered  to  guilty  man  had  he  not  risen  as  well  as 
died. 

From  the  general  character  of  this  chapter  we  may 
reasonably  conclude  there  were  some  at  Corinth  who 
denied  the  resurrection  ot  Christ,  and  the  Apostle  pro- 
ceeded to  discuss  these  following  questions  : 

1.  Whether  there  be  any  resurrection  of  the   dead? 
This  is  done  from  the  ist  to  the  35th  verse. 

2.  What  will  be  the  nature  of  the  resurrected  bodies  ? 
Verses  35  to  51. 

3.  What  will  become  of  those  who  are  found  alive  at 
the  coming  of  Christ  in  judgment?     Verses  51  to  57. 

At  present  we  are  concerned  with  only  the  first  of 
these  questions — whether  there  be  any  resurrection,  or 
whether  Christ  be  raised,  for  it  all  depends  on  this  ?  If 
Christ  be  raised,  then  is  there  a  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
but  not  otherwise.  This  is  the  hinge  on  which  the 
whole  turns.  Settle  this,  and  we  settle  all. 

The  Apostle,  in  the  chapter  under  notice,  proves  the 
resurrection  of  Christ:  i.  From  the  Scriptures,  declar- 
ing he  himself  had  preached  to  the  Corinthians  that 
which  he  also  received,  or  which  had  been  revealed  to 
him  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration,  how  that  Christ  died  for 
our  sins  —  according  to  the  Scriptures  —  that  he  was 
buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, thus  indicating  that  he  had  the  same  Scriptural  or 
written  authority  for  Christ's  resurrection  that  he  had  for 
his  dying  for  their  sins;  and  from  this  he  could  legiti- 
mately and  justly  argue  that  if  Christ  had  not  risen  from 


THE  RESURRECTION.  301 

the  dead,  then  he  had  not  died  for  their  sins ;  and  if  he 
had  not  died  for  their  sins,  they  were  yet  in  their  sins, 
and  Christ  was  to  them  as  nothing  at  all.  In  reality,  he 
was  no  Christ — no  Savior — no  Redeemer. 

It  is  here  worthy  of  note  that  both  Christ  and  his 
Apostles  frequently  referred  to  the  Scriptures,  seemingly 
taking  it  for  granted  that  the  authenticity  and  credibility 
of  those  Scriptures  were  unquestioned  and  unquestion- 
able, and  that  their  Divine  origin  and  authority  were  ad- 
mitted by  all.  But  to  what  did  they  refer  by  the  term 
Scriptures?  None  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures 
were  written  until  after  the  death  of  Christ;  it  is  not 
probable,  therefore,  that  they  referred  to  them ;  nor  is  it 
probable  that  more  than  two  of  the  gospels  had  been 
written  previous  to  the  date  of  this  letter  to  the  Corin- 
thians. It  is  possible,  not  probable,  I  think,  that  the 
Apostle  here  refers  to  the  testimony  of  Matthew  and 
Luke  in  regard  to  the  resurrection.  I  say  it  is  possible 
this  may  be  so,  but  I  know  of  no  single  instance  or  proof 
in  the  New  Testament  where  its  writings,  or  any  part  of 
them,  are  called  the  Scriptures — nor  do  I  think  such 
proof  can  be  found. 

The  reference  both  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles  was  to 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  Of  this  we  may  be  sure 
— because  these  were  called,  by  .vay  of  eminence,  the 
Scriptures  or  writings,  and  the  aggregate  of  them  was, 
also  by  way  of  eminence,  called  The  Book,  and  all  were 
regarded  and  esteemed  by  the  Jews  and  Jewish  teachers 
as  containing  God's  revelation  to  man.  But  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  referred  to  the  writers  of  many  of  these 


302  THE  RESURRECTION. 

Scriptures  by  name,  as  Moses,  David,  Isaiah,  etc.,  etc., 
acknowledging  them  as  holy  men,  who  spake  as  the 
Holy  Ghost  gave  them  utterance,  and  from  time  to  time 
made  quotations  from  nearly  or  quite  all  of  these  canoni- 
cal books,  always  referring  to  them  as  of  Divine  authori- 
ty. This  was  the  way  in  which  the  Apostles  contended 
with  the  Jews  in  reference  to  Jesus,  "  arguing  and  prov- 
ingfivm  the  Scriptures  that  he  was  indeed  the  Christ." 

But,  it  may  be  said,  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  in 
no  place  state  in  express  terms  that  Christ  should  rise 
from  the  dead  on  the  third  day.  To  which  I  reply: 
If  not  stated  in  so  many  words,  it  is  clearly  taught 
by  the  many  types  which  were  admitted  to  refer  to 
Christ.  Instance  two  only :  that  of  Jonah,  which  the 
Savior  himself  recognizes  and  applies — and  that  of  Isaac, 
who  was  a  very  expressive  type  of  Christ.  As  his  being 
carried  to  Mount  Moriah,  bound,  and  laid  on  the  altar 
to  be  sacrificed  was  an  admitted  type  of  Christ's  death, 
so  his  being  brought  alive  from  the  Mount  on  the  third 
day  was  a  type  of  Christ's  resurrection. 

It  is  very  clear,  at  least  to  my  mind,  that  both  Christ 
and  his  Apostles,  not  only  recognized  the  authority  of 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  but  regarded  them  as  part 
and  parcel  of  the  redemptory  scheme  and  the  system  of 
God's  revelation  to  man,  which  revelation  was  to  culmi- 
nate with  that  of  the  Apocalyptic  vision.  They  acknowl- 
edged the  importance  of  these  Scriptures,  and  by  their 
testimony  the  Apostle  here  proves  the  doctrine  of  Christ's 
resurrection.  These  Scriptures  taught  the  necessity  of 
that  resurrection,  and  foretold  its  occurrence.  Then  the 


THE  RESURRECTION.  303 

fact  that  it  did  occur  the  Apostle  proves  by  eye-witnesses. 
"  He  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then  of  the  twelve,  then  of  five 
hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom  the  greater  part  "  re- 
mained or  were  alive  when  the  Apostle  wrote;  hence  he 
could  easily  have  been  confronted  by  many  had  he  dared 
to  utter  what  was  not  strictly  true. 

"  Then,"  continues  the  Apostle,  "  was  seen  of  James, 
then  of  all  the  Apostles,  and,  last  of  all,  was  seen  of  me 
also."  That  is,  "  these  all  saw  him  after  his  resurrection 
and  I  saw  him.  I  saw  him  !  I  know  he  is  alive;  I  heard 
his  voice  and  felt  his  power;  and  the  fact  was  so  clear, 
so  demonstrable,  and  so  undeniable,  that  from  a  hater  I 
became  a  lover,  from  a  violent  persecutor  I  became  a 
willing  and  patient  sufferer  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  I 
know  whereof  I  affirm  ;  I  know  whom  I  have  believed  ; 
I  follow  no  cunningly  devised  fables — I  teach  none.  It 
is  a  Divine  reality,  an  incontrovertible  truth,  that  will 
endure  forever,  and  on  which  the  hopes  and  destinies  of 
millions  upon  millions  yet  unborn  will  securely  and  safely 
rest." 

If,  my  brethren,  Paul  were  the  only  witness  of  the  re- 
surrection of  Christ,  I  do  not  see  how  the  evidence  could 
be  overthrown.  Consider  his  talents  and  learning — his 
peculiar  temperament  of  mind — his  strong  will — his  earn- 
est zeal — his  unconquerable  energy — his  indomitable  per- 
severance! Then  think  how  earnestly  all  these  were 
consecrated  to  the  work  of  opposing  Christ  and  destroy- 
ing his  disciples.  With  a  zeal  above  his  fellows — more 
than  any  one  else  did  he  persecute  the  infant  Church  ! 
And  why  ?  Because  he  thought  he  ought  to  do  things 


304  THE  RESURRECTION. 

contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  He  looked 
upon  that  Jesus  as  an  impostor — as  a  bad  man — as  dis- 
loyal both  to  the  Jewish  and  Roman  governments — as  a 
disturber  of  the  public  peace  and  a  disquieter  of  the 
Church.  He  regarded  him  as  having  been  justly  con- 
demned and  executed,  and  that  it  would  be  doing  service 
both  to  God  and  the  country  to  put  an  early  stop  to  the 
delusion  he  supposed  the  disciples  to  be  under.  He  was 
honest,  but  was  mistaken,  as  many  others  have  been. 

On  his  way  to  Damascus,  "breathing  out  threatenings 
and  slaughter  against  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,"  he  sud- 
denly saw  a  light,  which  was  greater,  or  above  that  of 
the  mid-day  sun — greater  than  that  of  the  mid-day  sun 
in  the  unsurpassed  clearness  of  a  Syrian  sky.  He  heard 
a  voice  saying,  "  Saul,  Saul,  why  " — for  what  reason,  for 
what  purpose,  or  with  what  intent — "  persecutest  thou 
me  ?  "  Using  a  form  of  expression  then  common  when 
superiors  or  even  equals  were  addressed,  he  replied, 
"  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  "  "  /  am  Jesus  whom  thou  per- 
secutest." 

I  need  not  proceed  with  the  details.  But  now  con- 
sider the  subsequent  life  of  the  same  man.  What  earn- 
estness, what  zeal,  what  fidelity  to  the  cause  he  then  and 
there  espoused !  What  patient  perseverance,  what  inces- 
sant labors  for  the  good  of  others!  What  toils,  what 
sacrifices,  what  privations,  and  what  sufferings  were  his ! 
How  fully  did  he  prove  that  in  deed  and  in  truth  he 
counted  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ!  All,  too,  because  he  had  seen 
Christ,  heard  his  voice  aad  felt  his  love. 


THE  RESURRECTION.  305 

Whenever  called  upon  to  defend  himself  and  his  course 
— before  either  the  ecclesiastical  courts  of  the  Jews  or 
the  civil  or  military  courts  of  the  Romans — he  invariably 
referred  to  the  scene  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  and  gives 
its  facts  as  the  reason  for  his  hope  and  conduct.  Before 
high  priests  and  before  kings  he  unhesitatingly  and  un- 
qualifiedly proclaimed,  "  yesus  is  the  Christ.  He  was 
crucified,  was  dead,  was  buried,  but  he  is  risen.  I  know 
he  is !  I  felt  his  power !  I  heard  his  voice !  I  saw 
him !  He  is  alive  for  evermore !  " 

Brethren,  could  that  man,  with  such  a  record  of 
preaching  and  writing,  of  laboring  and  suffering,  of  living 
and  dying,  have  been  deluded  !  Is  such  a  thing  proba- 
ble. Nay,  is  it  possible.?  Could  his  whole  life,  subse- 
quent to  this  event,  with  all  its  profound  reasonings,  all 
its  pure  and  healthful  precepts,  all  its  uprightness  and 
consistency,  and  such  a  death  as  his — have  resulted  from 
a  mere  flash  of  lightning,  followed  by  a  distempered 
imagination  ?  Do  deluded  fanatics  talk  as  he  talked, 
write  as  he  wrote,  live  as  he  lived,  or  die  as  he  died  ? 
If  Christ  did  not  rise  from  the  dead,  and  if  Paul  did  not 
really  see  him  after  the  resurrection,  then  Paul  was  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  mistaken  men  of  whom  I  have 
ever  read,  and  was,  beyond  doubt,  the  most  reasonable, 
philosophical,  profound,  upright,  consistent  and  useful 
under  that  delusion !  But  we  are  not  left  to  rely  solely 
on  his  testimony  as  an  eye  witness  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ.  There  are  others.  Examining  the  subject  care- 
fully we  find  a  record  of  not  less  than  ten  open  and  un- 


306  THE  RESURRECTION. 

mistakable  appearances  of  Christ  after  his  resurrection. 
They  were  as  follows  : 

ist.  To  Mary  Magdalene,  as  she  stood  at  the  sepulchre, 
weeping  over  her  disappointed,  blighted,  and,  as  she 
supposed,  ruined  hopes.  After  talking  with  the  angel 
she  turned  herself,  and  seeing  one  whom  she  supposed 
to  be  the  gardener,  said,  "  Sir,  if  thou  hast  borne  him 
hence  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and  I  will  take 
him  away."  As  if  she  had  said — He  did  much,  ah  ! 
very  much  for  me;  did  what  none  others  could  do — I 
owe  him  everything.  I  know  he  was  an  innocent,  good 
— and  no  common  man  !  Why  he  suffered  himself  to 
be  crucified,  and  his  body  to  be  laid  here — I  do  not 
know — cannot  even  conjecture.  But  I  can  neither 
forget  nor  cease  to  revere  and  love  him,  though  cold  in 
death  he  be !  Tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him,  and, 
weak  woman  as  I  am,  I  will  take  him  away!  Jesus 
said,  "  Mary  J  "  and  there  was  something  in  the  tone,  in 
the  manner  of  utterance,  that  thrilled  every  nerve,  that 
went  to  the  inmost  depths  of  the  soul !  It  was  more 
than  the  electricity's  shock  !  As  it  thrilled,  it  dispelled 
darkness — removed  all  doubts  and  revealed  the  most 
glorious  truth  the  world  ever  heard :  and,  in  ecstacy,  she 
exclaimed,  Master!  It  is  he  /  It  is  he  !!  He  told  her 
not  to  touch  him,  but  to  go  and  tell  his  disciples  he  had 
risen.  She  went  and  reported  accordingly. 

2d.  Next  he  appeared  to  certain  women  who  had  gone 
to  the  sepulchre,  and  been  told  by  the  angel  that  Jesus 
was  not  there,  but  had  risen.  While  on  their  return  to 


THE  RESURRECTION.  307 

Jerusalem,  Jesus  met  them,  saying,  "  All  Hail !  "  and 
they  held  him  by  the  feet,  and  worshiped  him ! 

This  was  evidently  a  separate  case  from  that  just 
mentioned. 

3d.  The  next  appearing  seems  to  have  been  to  the  pen- 
itent and  sorrow-stricken  Peter. 

When  Cleopas  and  the  disciple  that  was  with  him 
returned  from  Emmaus  to  Jerusalem,  the  others  told 
them,  "  The  Lord  hath  risen  indeed,  and  hath  appeared 
to  Simon."  This  was  the  third  appearing,  and  it  is 
remarkable  and  very  suggestive  that  his  first  appearing  of 
all  was  to  that  once  bad  woman  out  of  whom  he  had  cast 
seven  devils ;  and  the  first  man  to  whom  he  appeared 
seems  to  have  been  Peter,  who  had  so  basely  denied 
him  only  a  few  hours  before  the  crucifixion.  A  mani- 
festation this  of  most  wonderful  love  and  mercy,  pity 
and  tenderness. 

4th.  The  fourth  appearing  was  that  on  the  road  between 
Jerusalem  and  Emmaus,  to  two  disciples,  one  of  whom 
was  Cleopas.  The  account  of  this,  as  given  in  the  24th 
chapter  of  Luke,  is  very  instructive  and  exceedingly 
touching.  I  may  not  stop  now  to  dwell  upon  it.  They 
walked  along  the  way,  and  in  their  deep  sadness  talked 
of  what  had  so  recently  occurred.  A  stranger  joined 
himself  to  the  company — it  was  Jesus,  but  they  knew  him 
not.  He  asked  of  the  things  about  which  they  talked 
so  sadly.  They  informed  him  of  what  had  occurred, 
and  also  informed  him  of  their  once  buoyant,  but  now 
depressed  and  ruined  hopes.  Then  Jesus,  beginning  at 
Moses,  expounded  to  them  all  the  things,  in  all  the 


308  THE  RESURRECTION. 

Prophets,  concerning  himself.  He  went  further.  He 
opened  their  understandings  that  they  might  understand 
the  Scriptures,  and,  finally,  was  made  known  to  them  in 
breaking  of  bread,  and  then  vanished  out  of  their  sight. 
With  unspeakable  joy  they  hastened  back  to  the  city  to 
tell  of  what  they  had  seen  and  heard,  and  were  at  once 
met  with  the  intelligence  that  the  Lord  is  risen  indeed, 
and  hath  appeared  unto  Simon  ! 

It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  draw  anything  like 
a  full  picture  of  the  feelings  of  the  sorrow-stricken  few, 
as  the  deep  darkness  of  their  midnight  gradually  gave 
place  to  dawn,  and  then  to  a  bright  and  blissful  day. 
The  news,  first  of  the  empty  sepulchre,  then  the  rumor 
that  Jesus  had  risen,  and  been  seen  by  Mary ;  then  by 
another,  and  another,  and  yet  another!  How  it  must 
have  excited,  then  astonished,  and  then  overwhelmed 
them  !  But  soon  all  doubt  was  at  an  end.  The  disci- 
ples had  gathered  together  at  the  same  place;  talking, 
no  doubt,  of  what  had  been  reported,  hoping,  yet  doubt- 
ing ;  wondering  how  such  things  could  be,  or  what  would 
be  the  result  of  the  then  existing  state  of  affairs ;  when 
suddenly 

5th.  Jesus  appeared  to  all,  with  the  blessed  annuncia- 
tion, "  Peace  be  unto  you  !  " 

This  was  the  fifth  appearance  of  the  risen  Savior — all 
made  during  the  same  day,  and  that,  too,  the  day  of  the 
resurrection  ! 

6th.  The  next  and  sixth  appearance  was,  if  I  read  cor- 
rectly, one  week  from  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  when 
the  disciples  were  all  in  one  place.  Thomas  was  not 


THE  RESURRECTION.  309 

present  before,  and,  notwithstanding  the  testimony  of  the 
others,  he  persisted  in  his  disbelief  of  the  fact  of  the  res- 
urrection, declaring  he  must  see  for  himself,  and  even 
then  he  would  not  trust  his  eyes  alone,  lest  some  optical 
illusion  should  mislead  him.  He  must  feel  as  well  as 
see  the  prints  of  the  nails  and  of  the  spear,  and  he  must 
put  his  finger  and  his  hand  therein,  ere  he  could  believe 
such  an  improbable  story.  Well,  at  the  sixth  appearing, 
and  on  the  eight  day  after  the  resurrection,  Thomas  was 
present,  and  invited  to  judge  by  his  own  rule,  and  test 
by  his  own  standard.  He  was  satisfied;  and  thenceforth 
we  hear  of  no  more  doubts  among  the  disciples  on  that 
subject. 

7th.  The  seventh  appearance,  counting  the  whole  num- 
ber, was  made  to  the  eleven  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias.*  At  the 
suggestion  of  Peter,  they  had  gone  fishing ;  toiled  all 
night,  but  taken  nothing,  a  circumstance  very  unusual 
in  that  water,  celebrated  for  the  abundance  and  excel- 
lency of  its  fish.  In  the  morning  Jesus  appeared  on  the 
shore,  and  by  his  direction  an  extraordinary  draught  of 
fish  was  made.  The  disciples  went  on  shore,  and  after 
they  had  partaken  of  food,  then  occurred  that  interesting 
and  touching  interview  between  the  penitent  Peter  and 
his  forgiving  Master  that  is  recorded  by  St.  John. 

8th.  The  eighth  appearance  seems  to  have  been  that 
made  to  the  mere  than  five  hundred  brethren,  most  of 
whom  were  alive  when  Paul  wrote  this  epistle.  And  the 

*In  the  record  (John,  2ist  chapter)  this  is  called  the  third  ap- 
pearing of  Christ,  by  which  I  think  we  are  to  understand  the  third 
general  appearance  to  the  disciples  as  a  body. 


310  THE  RESURRECTION. 

gth.  Was  that  made  to  James,  but  at  what  particular 
times,  or  places,  or  under  what  particular  circumstances 
these  were  made  we  have  no  direct  information. 

loth.  The  tenth  and  last  appearing  before  the  ascen- 
sion was  made  to  the  eleven  on  Mount  Olivet,  near 
Bethany,  where  Jesus  gave  to  them  the  great  commis- 
sion to  go 'into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature;  and  whence,  as  he  finished  speaking, 
he  was  parted  from  them,  and  ascended  up  to  heaven. 
Some  time  after  the  ascension  he  personally  appeared  to 
Saul,  otherwise  Paul,  while  on  his  way  to  Damascus, 
as  already  alluded  to. 

Now,  if  any  event,  natural  or  supernatural,  can  be 
established  by  human  testimony,  then  we  must  admit  we 
have  witnesses  enough  on  this  subject;  and  to  my  mind 
there  are  but  three  suppositions  concerning  them.  Either, 

ist.  That  they  were  impostors,  and,  as  such,  knowingly 
and  willfully  deceived  the  people  ;  or, 

2d.  They  themselves  were  deceived,  and  honestly 
believed  Jesus  had  risen  when' he  had  not;  or, 

3d.  Their  testimony  is  true,  and  Jesus  is  indeed  risen 
from  the  dead.  Now,  to  one  or  the  other  of  these  con- 
clusions we  are  bound  to  come.  One  or  the  other  we 
must  admit,  for  one  or  the  other — and  only  one,  must  be 
true.  If  the  first  be  true,  the  others  are  necessarily  false. 
If  the  second  be  true,  then  the  first  and  third  are  false ; 
and,  if  the  third  be  true,  the  first  and  second  are  false. 
One  only  can  be  true,  and  one  must  be  true — which  is  it  ? 
To  suppose  that  the  first  was  true,  and  allow  that  these 
witnesses  knowingly  and  wilfully  testified  to  what  was 


THE  RESURRECTION.  311 

alse,  in  order  to  deceive  the  people,  is  to  suppose  a 
miracle  at  least  as  great  as  that  of  the  resurrection  itself. 
What  possible  motive  had  these  witnesses,  or  what  motive 
could  they  have  had,  to  pursue  such  a  course  ?  They 
knew  that,  in  a  worldly  sense,  their  testimony  was  in  every 
way  adverse  to  their  interest ;  they  knew  it  would  be  in 
direct  conflict  with  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  both  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities ;  they  knew  it  would 
subject  them  to  the  loss  of  all  religious  standing  among 
the  Jews,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  all  civil  privileges  on 
the  other ;  knew  it  would  render  them  liable  to  trial  and 
punishment  for  treason,  as  supporters  of  another  King 
than  Caesar ;  they  knew  if  they  bore  false  witness  there 
were  hundreds  of  people  at  hand  to  convict  them  of 
perjury,  and  make  them  suffer  according  to  the  Mosaic 
law — and,  if  they  still  contended,  though  convinced  of 
its  truth,  that  Jesus  had  risen  from  the  dead,  they  might 
be  liable  any  day  to  be  put  to  death  as  he  had  been. 
Yet  they  seem  to  have  made  no  secret  of  the  matter, 
from  the  day  of  the  resurrection  to  the  day  of  the  ascen- 
sion— and  soon  after  the  ascension  they  boldly  proclaimed 
the  fact  to  congregated  thousands  in  the  streets  of  Jeru- 
salem, and,  that  too,  in  sight  of  the  places  at  which  the 
crucifixion  and  burial  had  occurred,  and  while  the  circum- 
stances were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people ! 
Were  they  confronted  ?  Were  the  facts  denied  ?  On  the 
contrary,  thousands  of  the  hearers  were  convinced,  and 
received  the  truth.  The  disciples  had  nothing  to  gain  by 
the  propagation  of  such  an  error,  if  this  had  been  an 
error — but  had  everything  to  lose ;  and  it  is  positively 


312  THE  RESURRECTION. 

contrary  to  human  nature,  contrary  to  human  reason,  and 
contrary  to  human  experience,  that  men  should 
deliberately  and  persistently  propagate  falsehoods,  when 
they  know  that  by  doing  so  they  will  lose  all  and  gain 
nothing.  Yet  these  disciples  bore  this  testimony  at  all 
times,  under  all  circumstances,  and  many  of  them  suffered 
violent  deaths,  rather  than  recant  it!  Such  is  not  the 
course  of  men  who  know  they  are  in  the  wrong. 

But  were  these  witnesses  mistaken  ?  Were  they  a 
company  of  honest,  but  deluded  men  ?  Had  they  been, 
by  some  means  or  other,  imposed  upon,  deceived  and 
misled  ? 

In  answer  to  this,  suppose  we  look  calmly  and  care- 
fully into  those  masterly  discussions  of  Paul ;  and  those 
profound  discourses  of  John ;  or  the  logical  histories  of 
Luke ;  or  the  plain  and  simple,  yet  sublime  and  truth- 
like  narratives  of  Matthew  and  Mark ;  and  then  ask 
ourselves  if  this  were  the  kind  of  men,  and  this  the 
character  of  mind  likely  to  be  easily  imposed  upon! 
The  idea  is  simply  preposterous  !  That  these  men  were 
the  real  authors  of  the  works  that  bear  their  names,  there 
can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  The  books  are  clear  indices 
to  the  character  of  the  minds — and  the  character  of 
the  minds  is  a  sure  guarantee  against  all  such  impositions. 

Now,  finding  as  we  do,  that  the  first  and  second  of  the 
suppositions  named  are  untenable ;  we  are  compelled  to 
fall  back  on  the  third,  and  admit  that  Christ  is  risen  from 
the  dead.  This  is  the  only  supposition  in  the  case  that 
coincides  with  the  universally  received  laws  of  evidence. 
There  is  no  Scripture — there  is  no  process  of  sound 


THE  RESURRECTION.  313 

reasoning — there  are  no  rules  of  logic — no  laws  of  phi- 
losphy,  by  which  we  can  legitimately  reach  any  other 
conclusion.  //  must  be  so  !  Christ  is  indeed  risen,  and 
having  risen  he  is  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept. 

By  first  fruits,  as  the  phrase  is  here  used,  reference  is 
had  to  the  ceremony  under  the  Jewish  law  of  presenting 
the  first  ripe  fruit  of  the  annual  crop,  as  an  offering  to 
the  Lord,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  supervising  provi- 
dence, and  as  a  token  of  gratitude  for  the  same.  At  the 
sheaf  offering  there  was,  ist.  A  passover.  2d.  The  day 
following  was  a  Sabbatic  day.  3d.  Then  the  day  follow- 
ing that,  the  first  fruits  were  offered.  With  these  circum- 
stances the  resurrection  of  Christ  agrees;  there  being  a 
passover,  following  which  wa3  the  crucifixion,  then  the 
next  day  was  a  Sabbatic  day,  then  following  that  was  the 
resurrection,  or  the  first  fruits  from  the  dead ;  and  the 
conclusion  of  the  Apostle  is  :  that  as  the  first  fruits  were 
sure  proof  of  the  coming  harvest,  so  surely  was  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ  proof  of  our  resurrection.  As  the  first 
fruits  were  followed  by  a  glorious  harvest,  so  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ  was  to  be  followed  by  the  resurrection 
of  myriads  from  the  dead,  whose  triumphant  song  should 
be  "  O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?" 

There  had  been  resurrections  from  the  dead  previously 
to  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  The  daughter  of  Jarius 
had  died  and  been  raised  from  the  dead  ;  so  had  the  son 
of  the  widow  of  Nain,  and  so  had  Lazarus  the  friend  of 
Jesus ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  and  withal  very  sug- 
gestive, that  of  these  the  first  had  been  raised  from  the 

bed  whereon  she  had  died ;  the  second  from  the  bier 
21 


314  THE  RESURRECTION. 

on  which  he  was  being  carried  to  the  grave,  and  the 
third,  from  the  tomb  where  he  had  lain  four  days.  These 
particulars  have  their  significance,  but  may  not  be  noticed 
now. 

There  are  also  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures several  cases  of  resurrection  from  the  dead.  But 
in  all  these  cases,  whether  recorded  in  the  Old  or  New 
Testament,  there  was  no  material  change  passed  upon 
the  bodies  raised.  They  were  simply  brought  back  to 
life,  to  dwell  a  while  longer  on  earth,  and  then  to 
return  to  dust.  But  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was 
different.  His  body,  though  preserving  its  identity,  was 
raised  a  glorious  body.  The  corruptible  had  put  on  in- 
corruption,  and  the  mortal  had  put  on  immortality  ;  so 
that  in  his  case,  to  the  fullest  extent  of  its  meaning,  death 
had  been  swallowed  up  in  victory :  in  his  body  was  fully 
verified  what  the  Apostle  declares  shall  be  verified  in  all, 
"  It  was  sown  in  corruption  and  raised  in  incorruption ; 
sown  in  dishonor  and  raised  in  glory;  sown  in  weakness, 
raised  in  power,"  and  the  victory  he  thus  gained  is  a 
victory  which,  through  him,  God  will  give  to  us  all ;  and 
for  which  we  may  with  the  Apostle  well  say  :  "  Thanks 
be  to  God."  We  may  also  take  to  ourselves  the  exhor- 
tation with  which  he  followed  this  inimitable  argument, 
and  "  be  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abounding  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  knowing  that  our  labor  is  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord." 

The  Lord  is  risen  indeed  He  is  the  first  fruits  of 
them  that  slept.  We  also  shall  rise  from  the  dead  — 
"  for  the  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all  that  are  in 


THE  RESURRECTION.  315 

their  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth  ; 
they  that  have  done  good  unto  the  resurrection  of  life, 
and  they  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrection  of  dam- 
nation." These  are  his  own  words ;  to  them  let  us  take 
heed,  for 

"  Now,  only  now,  against  that  hour 

We  may  a  place  provide  ; 
Beyond  the  grave,  beyond  the  power 
Of  hell — oifr  spirits  hide." 

And  now,  in  view  of  all.  we  may  safely  say,  with   Dr. 
Edward  Young  : 

"In  that  blest  Hie 

I  see  the  path,  in  his  death  the  price, 
And  in  his  great  ascent  the  proof  supreme 
Of  immortality.     And  did  he  rise  ? 
Hear  if,  O  !  ye  nations  !   hear  it,  O !    ye  dead  ! 
He  rose!   He  rose  !   He  burst  the  bars  of  death  ; 
Oh,  the  burst  gates!  crushed  sting!  demolished  throne! 
Last  gasp  of  vanquished  death  !    Shout,  earth  and  heaven  ! 
This  sum  of  good  to  man  !  whose  nature 
Took  wing,  and  mounted  with  him  from  the  tomb. 
Then  !   then  I  rose ;   then  first  humanity 
'J  riumphant  passed  the  crystal  ports  of  light 
(Stupendous  guest)  and  seized  eternal  youth  — 
Seized,  in  our  names;  e'er  since  'tis  blasphemous 
To  call  man  mortal.      Man's  mortality 
Was  then  transferred  to  death,  and  heaven's  duration 
Unalienably  sealed  to  this  frail  frame. 
This  child  of  dust.      Man,  all  immortal,  hail ! 
Hail  heaven  !   all  lavish  of  strange  gifts  to  man ! 
Thine  all  the  glory,  man's  the  boundless  bliss ! 
Hallelujah  !     Amen  !  " 


XX. 
PIETY  PROGRESSIVE. 


"Therefore  leaving  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  let 
us  go  on  unto  perfection." — HEB.  vi.  I. 

By  the  phrase  "  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  cf 
Christ,"  the  Apostle  means  the  rudiments  or  elements  of 
Christianity.  The  margin  reads,  "  the  word  of  the  be- 
ginning of  Christ."  Verses  one  and  two  enumerate  these 
elements:  Repentance,  faith,  baptisms,  laying  on  of 
hands,  resurrection,  and  eternal  judgment.  These  are 
learned  first,  and  serve  to  initiate  the  man  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven ;  but  they  are  only  initiatory  and  rudi- 
mental. 

Have  we  well  learned  even  these  ?  Before  we  con- 
template progression  it  is  well  to  be  assured  that  we  are 
soundly  initiated.  How  much  less  proficient  could  one 
be  than  ourselves  and  be  any  Christian  at  all  ?  Let  the 
question  be  meditated.  The  "  repentance  "  of  some  has 
hardly  sufficed  to  turn  them  from  sin  overt.  The  "faith" 
of  some  is  hardly  at  all  justifying.  The  "baptism"  of 
some  has  hardly  been  appreciated  or  understood  as  a 
formal  obligation  to  a  godly  life ;  and  possibly  they  have 


PIETY  PROGRESSIVE.  317 

sought  only  one,  the  outward,  and  know  nothing  of  the 
"  sprinkling  of  the  heart  from  an  evil  conscience."  And 
so  of  the  rest. 

How  reproachful  to  have  it  said  of  us,  as  our  Apostle 
writes  in  chapter  five :  "  For  when  for  the  time  ye  ought 
to  be  teachers,  ye  have  need  that  one  teach  you  again 
which  be  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God ;  and 
are  become  such  as  have  need  of  milk,  and  not  of  strong 
meat."  Of  how  many  of  us  is  this  reproach  true  ? 
Again  ask,  have  we  well  learned  even  these  first  prin- 
ciples ? 

But  there  is  a  higher  life — perhaps  I  should  say  a 
deeper  life.  There  is  a  life  for  us  beyond  the  initiating 
principles.  We  are  obligated  to  look  on  sin,  not  only  as 
a  thing  to  \)t  pardoned,  but  as  a  principle  from  which  we 
are  to  be  cleansed.  Our  religious  life  must  go  through 
justification,  by  regeneration,  into  sanctification.  Our 
Savior  pardons  his  prisoner,  then  releases. 

"  He  breaks  the  power  of  canceled  sin, 
He  sets  the  prisoner  free." 

According  to  the  text,  this  advanced  life  is  a  moving 
on  in  religious  experience — improving,  becoming  better; 
acquiring  spiritual  life,  strength,  enjoyment,  discernment. 
"  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit 

of  God But  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all 

things  " — his  discernment  is  so  quickened,  having  grown 
wiser  by  growing  better ;  "  yet  he  himself  is  judged  of 
no  man,"  is  not  known  or  understood  by  any.  "  The 
world  knoweth  us  not."  This  life  is  such  a  moving  on 


318  PIETY  PROGRESSIVE. 

that  the  first  principles — repentance,  justifying  faith,  bap- 
tism, etc. — become  rudimental,  as  the  alphabet,  tables  of 
weights  and  measures,  and  the  like,  to  the  scholar.  They 
become  so  incorporated  in  his  mental  constitution  that 
they  are,  unconsciously,  ever  with  him — a  part  of  his  be- 
ing. The  mere  letter  of  the  law  is  well  nigh  forgotten  to 
the  advanced  Christian,  the  spiritual  vision  being  so  far 
extended  beyond.  The  root  of  the  matter  is  in  him, 
while  he  plies  his  soul  to  higher  phases  of  truth. 

The  higher  life  is  progressive,  like  the  day,  which  first 
dawns,  then  expands,  and  shines  brighter  till  the  noon. 
It  is  like  the  shooting  plant,  which  first  germinates  in  the 
seed,  then  throws  up  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the 
full  corn.  It  is  like  the  growing  child  :  first  the  infant, 
then  the  youth,  and  then  the  man  of  full  stature  and  ma- 
turity of  mind.  All  these  are  Scripture  figures  of  illustra- 
tion. Let  us  not  be  content  to  stay  in  the  twilight  of 
our  day,  in  the  germ  of  our  growth,  in  the  infancy  of  our 
being  in  Christ.  Our  growth  must  be  an  escape,  like 
that  of  Lot,  who  was  commanded  to  escape  for  his  life — 
neither  stay  in  all  the  plain.  We  should  not  linger  in 
any  condition  at  all  contiguous  to  our  former  death,  but 
go  to  the  utmost  verge  from  it,  becoming  as  religious  as 
it  is  possible  to  be,  both  inwardly  and  outwardly.  It  is 
a  development  of  religious  principle,  evolving  the  prin- 
ciple of  eternal  life  out  of  the  soul  by  the  grace  given 
unto  us.  "  Therefore  leaving  the  principles  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  let  us  go  on  unto  perfection." 

Quitting  the  rudiments,  the   novitiate,  what  blessed 


PIETY  PROGRESSIVE.  319 

discoveries  we  make!  We  come  anon  upon  an  abiding 
confidence,  a  complete  self-mastery,  an  exhilarating  joy, 
and  "  full  assurance  of  hope."  And  the  joy  is  ever  new. 
It  does  not  satiate.  Carnal  pleasures  grow  dull,  and  even 
nauseous. 

"  But  thy  words,  with  grace  divine 
Imbued,  bring  to  their  sweetness  no  satiety." 

In  this  state  of  grace  unimpaired  everything  about  us 
touches  the  springs  of  joy,  and  God  is  seen  in  everything. 
The  voice  of  a  friend  falling  on  the  ear,  the  beauties  of 
the  landscape  greeting  the  eye,  the  wings  of  the  wind 
fanning  the  cheek,  the  rising  or  the  setting  sun,  the  thun- 
der-cloud or  the  rainbow,  rest  or  motion,  work  or  wait- 
ing— everything  has  its  power  to  spring  the  gushing  joy 
within  and  bring  the  ineffable  One  to  view.  Not  in  ter- 
ror, but  in  joy,  the  soul  reads  everywhere  :  "Thou,  God, 
seest  me."  There  is  an  abiding  conviction,  not  only  of 
acquittal  from  guilt,  but  of  acceptability  of  state.  God 
has  cleansed  the  temple,  it  yields  him  ready  occupancy, 
and  he  approves  its  furniture.  And  his  assurance  is  not 
based  on  a  supposed  purpose  of  God  to  save  him  whether 
or  not,  but  from  a  faith,  a  living,  appropriating  faith, 
bringing  "  the  witness  "  of  God  himself. 

Such  a  believer  is  not  ever  reasoning  and  probing  to 
see  if  I  have  repented,  if  I  have  true  faith,  if  I  have  been 
baptized  aright,  etc.  These  first  principles  were  settled 
long  ago,  and  now  his  language  is :  "I  know  whom  I 
have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  he  is  able  to  keep  that 
which  I  have  committed  to  him  against  that  day." 


320  PIETY  PROGRESSIVE. 

"  Not  a  doubt  doth  arise 
To  darken  my  skies, 

Or  hide  for  a  moment  my  Lord  from  my  eyes ; 
In  him  I  am  blest, 
I  lean  on  his  breast, 
And,  lo!  in  his  wounds  I  continually  rest." 

Like  Moses  on  Pisgah,  he  views  the  promised  land,  and 
becomes  familiar  with  the  heavenly  world  by  daily  ob- 
servation from  his  commanding  standpoint. 

Living  faith  and  joyous  hope  make  us  superior  to  the 
petty  annoyances  of  time.  This  experience  aims  us 
against  the  temptations  common  to  men  and  defends  us 
against  the  snares  of  the  enemy.  It  frees  us  from  the 
vexatious  cares  of  a  carnal  life,  and  from  the  enslaving 
"  desires  "  of  a  worldly  heart.  It  brings  content  in  pov- 
erty, and  shuts  out  avarice  in  wealth.  It  opens  the  eyes 
of  the  soul  to  the  beauties  of  God's  creation,  the  wisdom 
of  his  providence,  and  "  the  riches  of  his  grace."  The 
man  is  emphatically  "  a  new  creature."  With  what  truth 
he  can  say :  "  Old  things  are  passed  away ;  behold,  all 
things  have  become  new  ! " 

"  A  bleeding  Savior  seen  by  faith, 

A  sense  of  pardoning  love, 
A  hope  that  triumphs  over  death — 
Give  joys  like  those  above." 

The  gospel  is  still  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth."  Jesus  is  still  "  able  to  save 
unto  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by  him." 


PIETY  PROGRESSIVE.  321 

"  No  fable  old,  nor  mythic  lore, 

Nor  dream  of  bards  and  seers ; 
No  dead  fact  stranded  on  the  shore 

Of  the  oblivious  years  ; 
But  warm,  sweet,  tender,  even  yet 

A  present  help  is  He ; 
And  faith  has  still  its  Olivet, 

And  love  its  Gallilee." 

On  this  subject  of  a  higher  or  deeper  religious  life 
many  of  us  err  in  two  particulars.  First,  in  not  recog- 
nizing the  facf  of  a  higher  life.  If  it  is  not  denied,  it  fails 
often  to  be  admitted  and  confessed  as  desirable.  It  is 
ignored.  This  is  a  sad  error.  (The  Scriptures  teach 
spiritual  maturity,  Christian  perfection,  freedom  from  sin, 

sanctification  of  heart  and  life.     It  is  highly  important 

/ 
to  recognize  the  fact,  to  make  it  a  point  in  our  theology. 

The  second  error  is  in  failing  to  go  up  to  it,  as  a  neces- 
sity, when  it  is  recognized.  We  content  us  with  meagre 
attainments,  with  mere  initiation.  We  need  appetite  for 
it ;  we  have  moral  dyspepsia,  and  spiritual  food  is  sick- 
ening to  the  carnal  taste.  Holiness  is  unrelished,  un- 
pleasant. The  fault  is  theirs  who  have  destroyed  a  bet- 
ter relish  by  indulgence  in  the  "  forbidden  fruit."  And 
so  there  is  no  advancement  beyond  first  principles.  Some 
never  see  anything  more  important  than  repentance, 
justifying  faith,  baptism,  and  such  rudiments,  and  talk 
only  of  these.  Baptism,  a  mere  outward  rite,  is  likely  to 
be  the  most  cherished  matter,  and  this,  with  kindred  \ 
rudiments,  will  be  vehemently  discussed,  but  no  mention 
of  "  righteousness,  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 


322  PIETY  PROGRESSIVE. 

Yet  the  Scriptures  contemplate  advance  by  believers,  and 
enjoin  it.  "  Add  to  your  faith  "  is  the  constant  tenor  of 
Divine  instruction.  "Desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby."  "  And  he  gave  some 
apostles,  &c.,  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  unto  a  perfect  man, 
with  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ ; 
that  we  henceforth  be  no  more  children,  tossed  to  and 
fro,  and  carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine  ;  .  .  . 
but,  speaking  the  truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  into  him  in 
all  things,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ."  Where  is 
our  growth  ?  Can  we  show  it?  Happy  is  he  who  can 
point  to  the  unmistakable  marks,  the  increased  gentle- 
ness, kindness,  benevolence,  work,  faith  and  hope,  and 
thus  prove  his  advancement. 

Now,  we  should  not  rest  in  the  rudiments,  for  two 
reasons :  First,  because  we  will  decline  from  that  state  if 
we  aim  to  stop  there.  It  is  a  law  of  all  growth,  that 
when  increase  is  stopped  decay  sets  in.  Christian  life 
will  stagnate  when  it  ceases  to  improve.  The  perfection 
we  have  spoken  of  is  not  one  where  no  growth  is  needed 
more,  but  a  reaching  of  that  maturity  where  freedom 
from  sin  is  vouchsafed.  The  virtues  and  capacities  must 
be  ever  deepening  and  augmenting.  If  not  so,  there 
will  be  retrogression ;  the  salt  will  lose  its  seasoning 
power. 

A  second  reason  for  not  remaining  in  that  novitiate  is, 
that  there  we  have  little  power  for  good.  It  is  very 


PIETY  PROGRESSIVE.  323 

rare  that  one  without  the  happy  experience  of  advanced 
Christian  life  is  either  zealous  or  efficient.  If  conscience 
impel  to  zeal,  there  is  apt  to  be  wanting  the  alacrity 
which  gives  tact  and  effectiveness  to  the  work.  "  The 
joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength."  Every  Christian 
should  strive  for  that  joy,  that  he  may  be  useful.  This 
is  our  duty  and  life-work — to  do  good.  Salvation  is 
equally  for  ourselves  and  others — that  we  should  impart; 
"  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth  live  unto 
themselves." 

We  have  little  heart  to  work,  because  we  are  weak 
and  sickly ;  and  are  weak  because  we  do  not  seek  the 
milk  and  meat  of  the  word,  and  grow.  The  heart  is  not 
enough  set  upon  God.  "  If  any  man  love  God,  the  i 
same  is  known  of  him."  Do  men  "  take  knowledge  of  ' 
us,"  that  we  are  taken  up  with  the  Divine  love  ?  Does 
your  religious  life  exhibit  itself  in  godly  deeds  ?  (  Do  you 
say  you  are  too  busy  to  do  Christian  work  M  You  are  not 
too  busy  to  die!  A  merchant  sat  at  his  desk,  immured 
in  his  papers  and  books.  A  Christian  man  entered  and 
begged  his  attention  to  a  matter  of  interest  to  the  Church 
of  which  both  were  members.  "  I  am  too  busy,"  re- 
plied the  merchant ;  and  with  this  word  the  entreaty 
of  his  Christian  brother  was  repelled,  and  he  compelled 
to  retire.  Another  visitor  entered  that  office,  laid  a 
cold  hand  on  his  shoulder,  and  demanded  that  he  go 
with  him.  He  arose  with  dizzy  head  and  went.  The 
visitor  accompanied  him  to  his  own  chamber,  laid  him  on 
his  bed,  and  placed  a  chill  hand  on  his  heart.  Then  the 
busy  man  knew  his  visitor  was  death !  He  was  too  busy 


324  PIETY  PROGRESSIVE. 

to  do  the  work  of  the  Master,  but  not  too  busy  to  die  ! 
In  the  midst  of  unfinished  business,  my  friend,  you  shall 
have  to  lie  down  in  the  grave. 

"  Make  haste,  O  man,  to  do 
Whatever  must  be  done ; 
Thou  has  no  time  to  lose  in  sloth, 

Thy  day  will  soon  be  gone. 
Make  haste,  O  man,  to  live  !  " 

You  are  not  too  important  to  work  for  your  fellows, 
even  the  lowliest.  If  your  culture  isolates  you  from  your 
fellows,  your  culture  is  unchristian  ;  if  your  wealth,  your 
wealth  is  wickedness  ;  if  your  honor  and  superior  great- 
ness cut  off  your  sympathy  and  aid  from  the  neglected, 
you  honor  is  false.  JESUS  is  our  exemplar.  He  "  went 
about  doing  good ;  "  and  of  him  it  was  said,  in  ever- 
blessed  reproach,  "  This  man  receiveth  sinners,  and 
eateth  with  them."  Go  thou  and  do  likewise,  and  re- 
ceive the  same  creditable  reproach  from  those  whose 
censure  is  commendation. 

We  must  acquire  the  life  that  will  qualify  and  impel  us 
to  such  work ;  it  will  not  flow  from  dead  hearts  and 
palsied  hands.  The  highest  style  ot  life — outer  life,  will 
flow  only  from  the  deepest  life  within.  The  deeper  the 
purity  of  heart,  the  more  active  the  hands  will  be  in  all 
good  works.  "  Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God 
and  the  Father  is  this :  To  visit  the  fatherless  and  wid- 
ows in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted 
from  the  world."  Is  this  pure  religion  ?  Then  how  few 
have  it !  Who  of  us  inquire  and  seek  after  "  the  father- 
less and  widows,"  that  we  may  visit  them  in  affliction, 


PIETY  PROGRESSIVE.  325 

and  thus  show  our  pure  religion  ?  Had  we  the  life  ac- 
quired by  leaving  the  rudiments  and  going  on  to  perfec- 
tion, would  we  not  exhibit  it  more  ? 

With  this  life  enjoyed,  worship  will  also  then  be  a 
delight ;  we  shall  then  love  the  place  where  God's  honor 
dwelleth."  We  shall  also  more  truthfully  sing : 

"  Beyond  my  highest  joy 

I  prize  her  heavenly  ways, 
Her  sweet  communion,  solemn  vows, 
Her  hymns  of  love  and  praise." 

The  Church  must  "  come  up  out  of  the  wilderness, 
leaning  upon  the  arm  of  her  beloved,  fair  as  the  moon, 
clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners." 
And  to  this  end  individuals  must  inquire,  am  I  alive  to 
God?  Am  I  "  going  on  unto  perfection  ?  "  The  nearer 
one  approximates  "  perfection  "  the  more  abundant  he 
will  be  in  all  "  good  works.'-'  Purity  of  heart  does  not 
stand  alone;  the  perfect  man  is  no  recluse;  he  neither 
refrains  his  lips  nor  his  hands ;  he  works.  If  his  life  is 
barren  of  good  deeds,  it  contradicts  his  claim  to  purity ; 
if  filled  with  love,  he  is  ready  for  every  word  and  work  ; 
he  is  generous  and  benevolent,  gracious  and  good,  one 
whom  the  poor  will  bless  and  the  Church  will  honor.  So 
allied  are  grace  within  and  deeds  without:  they  attest 
each  other. 


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